RESPONSIBILITY
by J7339
Summary: Lucas is told that he needs to learn more Responsibilty. But he and every one else gets the lesson in a way that put his life at risk.
1. Default Chapter

RESPONSIBILITY   
  
  
  


The blond haired boy was working furiously at the keyboard in his quarters. If his idea for the 

new security system aboard the SeaQuest worked, then he would receive praise all round for the 

innovative system he had just created. Not only did it form a stable and very secure barrier to 

most of the sensitive components of the SeaQuest's mainframe computer, but it also provided him 

with a little light hearted relief from the mundane routine of the ship's he found himself 

falling into every day.   
  


He secretly hoped that Commander Ford would be pleased with his efforts. He had been very 

flattered when the Commander had chosen him over the regular computer people aboard to 

design a new security system. Inwardly he needed to prove himself to the Commander as well as 

the rest of the crew that he could carry out assigned tasks as good as any military personnel. The 

urge to prove himself often became strongest whenever the Captain was away and unable to 

defend his often different and outlandish solutions to problems. He had now been aboard the 

boat a total of three years and was seventeen years of age. He and the current crew had been 

through a lot of tight scrapes but sometimes all of that seemed to account for nothing when you 

were the youngest aboard.   
  


With Captain Nathan Bridger away off the boat with Doctor Kristen Westphalen at a U.E.O. 

meeting, he had been able to work almost non-stop for the last three days without being 

constantly interrupted with the little annoying things of life such as eating and sleeping and 

generally taking care of himself.   
  


He had started feeling a little bit under the weather since lunch time yesterday, but he put most of 

the symptoms down to lack of sleep. He had a headache that only compared with his head 

exploding. His eyes felt red and itchy but that was probably from watching the screen too much. 

He occasionally had a dry rough cough but that could be explained away to any minor ailment. 

Couple of aspirin and he'd be back to normal in no time he promised himself as he swallowed the 

tablets with a mouthful of coke. He was due on the bridge in under ten minutes and hoped his 

little presentation would be ready in time. He just had to stay awake during his shift and then he 

could finally get some sleep before the Captain returned in a few hours and caught him out.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


In the launch bay of the boat, Commander Ford was just scratching his head at the latest 

shipment of supplies that was coming in. He had no prior warning that any of this was coming. 

Two boat loads of fresh supplies including some long life stuff seemed to be coming aboard 

and he had absolutely no idea why.   
  


He eventually gave up trying to understand this sudden and unexplained invasion of his boat 

and decided to go back to the bridge and make himself occupied. He was hoping that Lucas 

was working on the new security system for the boat. He didn't like the idea of the ship's 

whole computer system reliant on somebody so young, but under the circumstances he didn't 

have a choice. Nobody else had volunteered to designing a new array of safety procedures. 

And after Marilyn Stark's efforts, he was determined to make the system so that nobody 

unauthorised could get in and fiddle with the boat's main frame computer.   
  


As he left the launch bay area he was unaware that one of the crew members trying to unload 

the new supplies, was trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He wasn't a regular crew 

member. He had on an old style U.E.O. uniform but hoped to be on the ship only long enough 

to carry out his assigned task and leave again before anybody got suspicious or started asking 

questions about himself.   
  


He walked into the ship's galley area and placed five tins of canned peaches on the shelf where 

there other canned goods were stored. He put them right at the front so that the chef would 

choose them first when preparing the evening dessert. He wasn't sure about how long the 

stuff inside the tin was supposed to work. Hopefully just long enough for them to carry out 

their assigned mission.   
  


Back on the Bridge, Commander Ford kept looking as his watch and noted that Lucas was 

now almost twenty minutes late for this rostered shift. He knew that the boy was not a regular 

crew member. But if he expected to be treated as one of the crew he needed to start acting 

like one. The boy needed some discipline and somebody to watch over him and make sure 

he wasn't goofing off too much.   
  


Just as he glanced at his watch again, Lucas came running onto the bridge. His shirt tail hung 

loosely over the top of his jeans and it didn't look as though he had combed his hair anytime 

recently.   
  
  
  


"Running a little late this morning Lucas?" Ford said trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. 

If he had been one of the regular crew, he would have raked him over the coals about being 

late for his shift.   
  


"Um yeah, sorry Commander. Just finishing off something" Lucas stammered as he ran a 

hand through his blond hair and took his seat at his post.   
  


He was almost bursting at the seams to tell the Commander that the new security system was 

finally finished, but he wanted the Commander to see the results for himself before taking the 

praise. He had set up the system for a test run that would automatically come on in about five 

minutes. That was the reason he was late in the first place. He had a difficult time setting up the 

intended demonstration just right. He wanted all of the crew to see his genius at work and note 

the sophistication that he had now added to the system. He had also inlaid a little fun to break 

up the complicated lines of code involved with a little light hearted relief he thought the crew 

might all enjoy.   
  


Lucas sat nervously at his station waiting for the demonstration to begin. He looked up almost 

every five seconds to the main screen only to see the face of Commander Ford watching him 

with a displeased look on his face. He gulp and swallowed a little and put his head back down 

again wondering why the Commander felt in such a bad mood today.   
  


Commander Ford was checking some logistic problems with Miguel Ortiz about the W.S.K.R.S. 

system when the main video screen suddenly lurched into life with some music and a picture 

of some sort forming.   
  


Lucas kept his head down to hide the smile and laughter he couldn't suppress.   
  


Commander Ford knew only too well that music like that had to come from Lucas. It was 

the new age loud stuff that only the teenager would enjoy listening to. What annoyed him 

more was the picture that was now clearly visible on the screen. He could see the figures 

talking to one another but because of his shock and disbelief he failed to hear anything that 

the figure were saying to each other.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The other crew members had heard the music and also knew that Lucas was the cause 

but instead of being annoyed at the figures on the screen, they were all intrigued.   
  


Lucas had designed the system but added life like characters of each of the crew members 

at the beginning to explain the systems. He had set up the demonstration like a mock 

bridge scene where his own crew members were talking about the new system and how 

it worked. He found it very difficult to create the little life like figures but was pleased 

with just how real to his friends they actually seemed in the end. From the smiles and grins 

he could see on their faces, his friends seemed to get a kick out of it too. Most of them 

were like Commander Ford and failed to actually listen to what was being spoken. Most 

of them were just admiring their own images on the big screen in front of them and marvelled 

at how real Lucas had made the little characters appear.   
  


He seemed to even have their very own personalities portrayed into the little figures. O'Neill's 

character was wearing glasses and had the same style haircut as the Lieutenant. Tim was 

one of the only ones actually listening to the dialogue and understanding what Lucas's little 

demonstration was all about. He knew that the teenager was using a different format than 

usual to explain how the new system work. But that was just Lucas. His methods might 

be off the wall sometimes, but he didn't for one moment disbelieve the kid's ability. As he 

listened to the new changes that the characters explained had been made, his eyes grew 

wider at how such a young person with no military experience could create something so 

incredibly complicated. Every line of instruction was now encoded in such a way that 

no outside hacker or terrorist could hope to unjumble. However, with the right expertise 

and instruction, the right people with the right knowledge would be able to access the 

same information with the same level of accuracy as before but easier. How does he do 

something like this? Tim found himself asking himself secretly.   
  


Ben Krieg's character was trying to be suave and charming as always and just like in real 

.life not really pulling it off at all.   
  


Lucas just about jumped out of his skin when he got barked at from Commander Ford.   
  


"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS LUCAS?" Ford yelled angrily.   
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas stood up to meet his adversary but listened before making any further comment. 

Inside his soul was dying to think that Commander Ford didn't like what he had taken 

so long to create and design.   
  


"I KNOW YOU MIGHT NOT BE MILITARY, BUT HONESTLY LUCAS. I WOULD 

HAVE THOUGHT THAT SOMEBODY OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE WOULD KNOW 

AND UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THE WORD RESPONSILIBITY"Ford 

continued with his hands placed on his hips and in an accusing stance.   
  


"I ASK YOU TO DESIGN SOMETHING THAT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THIS 

SHIP AND ALL YOU CAN COME UP WITH IS SOMETHING THAT HAS MADE US 

ALL INTO COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS. IF THE TASK WAS TOO BIG OR TOO 

MUCH FOR YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING AND I COULD HAVE 

ASSIGNED SOMEBODY ELSE TO THE JOB." Ford said.   
  


"LUCAS YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN ROOM TO MOVE AROUND HERE AS FREELY 

AS YOU LIKE BECAUSE OF CAPTAIN BRIDGER, BUT HONESTLY YOU MISUSE 

A MILLION DOLLAR COMPUTER SYSTEM TO CREATE A BUGS BUNNY CARTOON. 

YOU TURN UP LATE TO YOUR SHIFT AND EXPECT EVERYONE ELSE TO JUST 

TAKE IT IN THEIR STRIDE. IF YOU WERE ONE OF MY CREW........" He got through 

saying. He failed to notice that as he spoke, the colour of Lucas's face changed initially from 

the white due to the shock of being addressed in such a manner before the entire crew now to 

blood boiling red and he was accused of everything under the sun. The comments about 

him being allowed to do what he like because of the implied relationship between him and 

Bridger just incensed the teenager to new heights.   
  


Tim O'Neill could Lucas's face and knew that this normally mild mannered teenager who 

kept his emotions to himself was about to explode in anger. He tried to intervene and 

explain that he had completed the task assigned better than anybody else could have possibly 

hoped to so "Um Commander" he said in a quiet voice.   
  


"Not this time Tim" Ford yelled back to the Lieutenant without turning his attention from 

the teenager he was yelling at "It's about time somebody told this boy a few choice words 

about his responsibilities to this crew and this ship............"   
  


"My responsibilities to this ship and crew" Lucas now returned trying to keep his voice 

calm, but the more he spoke the louder he got. He had never been so angry at anybody 

before. This was a man who he had thought was he friend.   
  


"Let me enlighten you about a few things Commander" he said with venom in his voice. 

"Firstly, what you see on the screen is not a Bug's Bunny cartoon as you so blatantly 

put it. It is actually probably the most sophisticated security system anybody had ever 

designed but I knew that your feeble little mind would need another way to try and 

take it all in so I designed this little demonstration to make it easier for you." he was now 

yelling back at an impossible level and still very red in the face but he needed to be heard.   
  


"Secondly, if you think that I am some juvenile delinquent aboard this ship that doesn't 

do anything to help out. Then the next time something goes wrong with the computers 

on this ship you can just whistle dixie if you think I am going to come running and fix 

them for you again." Lucas continued.   
  


"I have been working non-stop for three days on this project. I haven't slept or eaten 

much during that time because I knew how important it was to try an get it finished before 

we set off again. Something like this would have taken somebody else weeks possibly 

months to design if they ever come up with the idea in the first place." he interjected.   
  


"I pull my weight around here as much as anybody else, normally without complaint 

and certainly with no appreciation. Nobody says 'Gee thanks Lucas for fixing that today. 

You don't have to do that but thanks for it anyway. Lucas, did I tell you what a great 

job you on that project.' I work just as hard as anybody else on this ship, sometimes long 

into the night when your all tucked up in bed. Not because I have to, but because I want 

to. I thought you respected me for what I could do with the computers. Obviously I 

was wrong." Lucas still shouted.   
  


"As for being on your crew Commander," Lucas said trying to hold back the tears that 

threatened "Forget it. If that's how you feel about me and my work, then I don't want 

to be a part of it." he said.   
  


Lucas was so out of breath by the time he was finished that he was breathing very hard 

and had actually started coughing harshly at the burning sensation in his lungs.   
  
  
  


Commander Ford stepped back a little at the anger that he had seen in the teenager. 

He like the other crew members were shocked out the sudden and ferocious outburst . 

Now, watching the teenager coughing because of his angry speech he felt a little pang 

of guilt and after what the explanation he heard, he wanted to take some of what he 

said back again.   
  


"Lucas are you alright" Ford asked in a gentler tone as the teen finally stopped coughing 

and stood up with eyes blazing back at Ford again.   
  


"WHAT DO YOU CARE IF I'M ALRIGHT" Lucas shot back angrily.   
  


"That's not fair Lucas" Ford said and tried to make amends for what he had said by 

putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. But before it could touch the fabric of the teenager's 

checkered shirt, Lucas pulled his arm suddenly arm back so that the hand missed his 

shoulder and he made one final comment before walking off the bridge towards his quarters.   
  


"No it's not fair Commander" and he left, leaving everybody looking sadly after teenager 

and then back at Ford with a little anger of their own at what he had said.   
  


"If you weren't my Commanding Officer right now" Ben Krieg said as he walked up to 

Ford "I'd punch you out for what you just said to him." and he too left the bridge trying 

to catch up to the fleeing teenager.   
  


Once Lucas was out of sight of the others from the bridge he had literally run all the way 

to his quarters and once inside, locked the door and threw himself on his bed and let the 

tears of frustration finally come out all at once.   
  


Ben Krieg had tried to enter the teenager's room to tell him that no one else felt the same 

as Commander Ford. He was surprised to see that the door was locked and a little more 

concerned now about the emotion state of the boy inside.   
  


Commander Ford now stood behind Krieg attempting to apologize to the teenager after 

such ugly words. Most of them were not really true. He had just let his frustrations of the 

day out on the first person he came across and that unfortunately was Lucas.   
  


He knew that the boy worked twice as hard as most of the crew. He knew that Lucas would 

have done the best job possible to create the new system. He wanted to tell the kid that 

he still had respect board the boat and was still needed more than ever.   
  


"I can't get the door open" Krieg said to the Commander "He's locked it from inside and I 

can't get it open."   
  


Both of them had failed to hear footsteps behind them and now jumped a little at the sound 

of Captain Bridger's voice.   
  


"Why is Lucas's door locked" he asked with a little wariness in his voice. "What's happened 

here Lieutenant Krieg?"   
  


Ben looked at the Captain and knew that he wanted a no nonsense answer to why something 

was wrong with Lucas, the person he cared most about.   
  


"Um Captain, I think you had better ask Commander Ford" Krieg said and scurried away 

before any more questions could be asked.   
  


"Well Commander?" Captain Bridger now asked with warning in his voice "What is wrong 

with Lucas?"   
  
  
  


MORE TO COME .............................   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. THE MISSION

RESPONSIBILITY   
  
  
  


"I'd rather we discussed it somewhere more private Captain" Ford answered "I think Doctor 

Westphalen needs to hear some of this as well."   
  


Captain Bridger was more than a bit reluctant to give into the Commander's request but there 

seemed to be a lot more to this scenario than first thought. "Okay Jonathan in my quarters if 

you please." he said as he glanced back at the locked door and wondered what had set the 

teenager off to use such tactics from his fellow crew members.   
  


When they reached the Captain's quarters, Kristen Westphalen was beginning to unpack her 

bags after the meeting and was a little surprised and miffed to see the Commander and Captain 

come into the room. She could see that something was wrong as they walked in.   
  
  
  


"What's happened?" Kristen asked not wanting to beat around the bush at the tension in the 

room.   
  


"Lucas has apparently locked himself in his room and Mr Ford here is about to tell us why." 

Bridger told her "Aren't you Commander?" he said in a warning tone.   
  


Ford gulped and took a step back from the looks he got from both the Doctor and the Captain. 

He knew that no matter how good he explained this or his intentions at the time, he was going 

to wind up being the bad guy in this whole thing and the end result was probably going to be 

less than pretty for him.   
  


"Well it's like this Sir" Ford said as he went about explaining firstly about the unauthorised 

invasion of personal and equipment that he had not known about and how he had been ticked 

off about that to begin with. Then he slowly started to explain his reaction to Lucas's new 

security system and the unorthodox demonstration that they had all be subjected to on the 

bridge.   
  


"Then there was the argument between Lucas and myself over the new system and things just 

seemed to go down hill from there Sir" Ford said his voice almost a whisper by this time due 

to the guilt he felt.   
  


"What exactly did you say to him Jonathan" Bridger said in a cool but demanding voice. 

Kristen stood behind the Captain using the same stance that he had used whilst addressing 

Lucas in front of the whole bridge.   
  


Jonathan reluctantly told the Captain word for word what he had shouted to Lucas and how 

he had literally accused him of being the Captain's pet aboard the ship. Bridger seemed to 

colour to the same shade of redness that Lucas displayed over the same comments. He was 

equally appalled by the Commander's lack of compassion and understanding and his outright 

disregard for Lucas's sensitive feelings.   
  


"I suppose he ran of the Bridge crying no thanks to you" Bridger declared hotly. Kristen herself 

had thought this outburst very different from the person she had come to know as Commander 

Jonathan Ford.   
  


"Um, no actually he didn't and I guess that's why I feel so guilty now" Ford admitted "Lucas 

chose to tell me a few home truths of his own" as Ford then went into detail about what the 

teenager had said in reply to his words of accusation.   
  


"By the time he finished he was so angry at me and had shouted so much that he was out 

of breath, which is the other reason I wanted to speak while Doctor Westphalen was here." 

he added.   
  


"Why is that Commander because you thought I would give you less of a tongue lashing at 

what you said about Lucas because she was in the room?" Bridger now asked.   
  


"No, because I am genuinely worried that the cough he has is something more than just a 

cough. He has been doing it off and on for a couple of days now. Ever since you left and 

I thought that it might be a good idea if the Doctor took a look at him. He told me himself 

that he went without sleep and food just to get the system finished ahead of schedule." Ford 

said.   
  


"Commander, I have to be perfectly honest here and say that right at this moment I am too 

angry with you to try and even think of a punishment for you or your untimely outburst" 

Bridger now said with force. "I will let my anger dissipate somewhat until I can come up 

with the appropriate sentence for such rash behaviour."   
  


"For now, let's just see if we can at least get Lucas to come out of his room. It sounds as 

though he was very upset with you when he left the Bridge." Bridger said with concern in 

his voice. It was even more so now that Ford had told him about Lucas normal habits of 

neglecting himself when he and Kristen were away.   
  


"Your immediate task Commander is to get together the list of people I will tell you about 

in a few minutes. The reason for the unscheduled supplies will be explained when I tell you about 

the next mission we have been given. Have everybody meet me in the Ward Room. The 

Doctor and I will try and get Lucas to attend to because this will involve him too." Bridger   
  


"Sir, I just wanted to say how unbelievably sorry I am for my outburst" Ford now said before 

leaving "I know I hurt Lucas's feeling and probably your too without any probable cause. I 

just wish I could take the words back again."   
  
  
  


"I think it's a little too late for that now Commander" Bridger said as he and Kristen walked out 

of his quarters towards Lucas's room.   
  


Commander Ford went about the task he had been assigned. When he walked back onto the 

bridge he was met with the same equally cold hard steel reception he had received from Bridger 

and the Doctor about his comments to Lucas. He knew he was in the wrong and he would 

just have to grin and bear such looks over the next few days.   
  


Ford informed the senior crew members that they were required in the Ward Room for a 

briefing from the Captain and all of them obeyed the order and started exiting the bridge.   
  


Back at Lucas's quarters, Ben Krieg had returned shortly after the Captain had left and was 

still trying to get a response out of the angry teenager inside. He saw the Captain coming 

back with Doctor Westphalen in tow and hoped that they could at least provoke a reaction 

from inside the sealed room. He hadn't had any luck so far yet.   
  


"Anything?" Bridger asked the Lieutenant who pounded on the door begging the teenager 

to let him in to explain things. Krieg sadly shook his head in a negative reply and once 

again rapped on the steel door of Lucas's quarters.   
  


"Lucas, it's me Dad" Bridger now said doing his own knocking at the door. He waited 

but all he got back in reply was total silence. Maybe it was a teenage thing and they were 

all about to get a large dose of the silent treatment. "Lucas, let me in so we can talk about 

this."   
  


Again silence from within.   
  


"Is there a master key to this door?" Kristen now asked Ben. "We really should check on 

him. Commander Ford thought that Lucas might be feeling poorly before he came on the 

bridge."   
  


This comment only sought to concern Ben more when he realised that his friend might be 

in need of medical treatment but was putting his pride before his health. "I think there's 

a master to all rooms in a safe on the Bridge. I'll go get it.:" he said and went of to do just that.   
  
  
  


Inside the room, the silence was mainly due to the fact that Lucas had fallen asleep shortly 

after locking the door to his room. The exhaustion his body felt from the lack of sleep over 

the last three days and the onset of whatever was attacking his lungs had caused his body to 

feel very tired. That coupled with the crying and the build up of frustrated emotions that he 

felt towards the entire crew right now had caused his body to demand rest and he had fallen 

into a troubled sleep. His sleep was deep enough not to hear the pounding on his door 

from his worried family and friends.   
  


"I found it" Ben Krieg shouted as he ran along the corridor and presented the Captain with 

a funny shaped master key. The Captain inserted it into the lock on the steel door and with 

a stiff turn to the right managed to unlock the door.   
  


The room was dark so the first thing his hand felt for upon entering was the light switch. 

He found the switch and pressed the button to an "ON" position and waited until the room 

was bathed in a bright flourescent light. It was only upon illumination of the room that the 

trio found out the reason why their pleas to answer the door were being ignored.   
  


Ben knew that this was a time that the Captain and the Doctor would be needed. He knew 

that they would inform him if there was anything his friend needed. He was just glad to see 

the kid trying to rest. He had heard the teenager coughing over the last day or so and just 

hoped that it wasn't anything more than a simple cold.   
  


Bridger entered the room but was careful not to make a sound to wake the boy. He didn't 

know why he was being so quiet. They had just been pounding the hell out of the door and 

he hadn't heard their attempts.   
  


Laying there on his back with the light shining on his handsome young face, the boy looked 

so young and innocent. A lump rose to Bridger's throat when he thought about the hurt 

and disappointment that the Commander's words and caused when he wasn't here. Deep 

down inside he knew that Jonathan was truly sorry for his words and hadn't meant them. 

But they had been said and they had been heard. Lucas had been hurt too many times in the 

past to think anything else about the comments than that they were said truthfully.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Bridger could see that the boy had been crying before he went to sleep. He ran his hand 

down the silvery tear stained tracks that ran down the length of the boy's soft cheeks.   
  


He had been told that the boy hadn't been sleeping so waking the boy was the last thing 

on his mind at the moment. He knew that there were explanations due but right now they 

could wait. He would tell the boy all about the new mission when he was fully rested 

and everything about today had been sorted out.   
  


Kristen did a rough examination without disturbing the boy. Without her instruments she 

wasn't able to gauge much about his physical health other than his sleep was a deep one. 

That could be put down to the lack of sleep over the last few days. She could hear a slight 

wheezing in his breathing but nothing to be over concerned about just yet. She too would 

wait until the boy was rested sufficiently to give him a thorough check up.   
  


"Let's go and have your meeting with the crew about the mission and we can check 

on him later to see if he wants to talk about his feelings. Somehow I doubt he will open 

up to either one of us." Kristen said with a sigh. Lucas was one of the most unpredictable 

people she had ever met when it came to telling anyone about his feelings. She had been 

surprised when Commander Ford had told them about his outburst. She supposed that was 

one of the reliable things about people who were a closed book. They rarely shared their 

feelings but when they did they usually did in at a time that was totally unexpected and in 

a way that was part of their persona. He was a tough enough kid, he would get past this 

little break in the weather.   
  


Bridger nodded his agreement and they both went out of the room turning the light off 

as they left and reclosing the door but not locking it this time around.   
  


Back in the Ward Room, the crew stood as their Captain entered the room to give him 

the normal show of courtesy and respect that one demonstrated to their superior officer.   
  


Bridger noted the seating arrangements in the room and saw that Commander Ford was 

on the end of the row of chairs. As if he had been cast to the end of the line for his 

display on the bridge earlier today.   
  


He saw the looks on their faces and knew that they all wanted to know how Lucas was 

before they talked about anything else like the upcoming mission.   
  


"He's sleeping" Bridger said simply "He didn't hear our knock at the door because he 

was already asleep. I'll go back and talk to him later on when he wakes up. I think he 

is getting a cold or something so his body is in a deep healing sleep at the moment."   
  


"Now to other matters" he said changing the subject, "This mission will involve each 

and every one of you. It will only involve the people in this room and Lucas of course. 

All other personnel has been informed that they are on a minimum of one week's shore 

leave in two hours time. Once we have offloaded most of the crew, we will begin the 

necessary preparations for our next mission."   
  


"Why do we have to unload the rest of the crew Captain?" Tim asked on everybody's 

behalf.   
  


"The reason they are being unloaded Lieutenant is because this mission will be long 

and difficult for all of us. We need to spare as many as possible from those difficulties 

except for those who are vital to the operation's success." Bridger replied.   
  


"The most important thing to note first off is to make sure that each of you is issued 

with the correct equipment for this mission. When you return to your own quarters, 

each of you should have received two new pair of thermal underwear and extra warm 

winter clothing to go with it. The reason for the warm clothes is due to our intended 

destination." he explained.   
  


"The U.E.O. has been informed by some remote out stations in the Antarctic that there 

had been a rogue submarine destroying some of their equipment and stations for an 

undisclosed reason. Our task is to track down this rogue sub and bring the crew back 

to face charges in a court of law." Bridger stated.   
  


"The Antarctic?" Krieg now asked making sure he had heard right.   
  


"Yes, I am afraid so Lieutenant Krieg. That's what makes this mission so dangerous 

and the need to offload as many of the crew as possible. Even with the SeaQuest's 

life support system fully functioning, temperatures in the southern waters can reach 

temperatures of minus 40 degrees centigrade and the glaciers and underwater icebergs 

that will appear in our path from time to time make the mission even more treacherous."   
  


"Now the other thing that you need to note, especially you Commander Ford, is once 

we get so far out to sea, we will lose all forms of communication with the outside world. 

That's why I have gathered a number of nautical maps and compasses before coming back 

so if the need arises and we get ourselves into more trouble, we should be able to plot 

our own course back to the main ocean before we all freeze like an ice cube." he added   
  


"Now are there any major questions before we start getting prepared?" he asked.   
  


"Will we able to survive at such low temperatures if the ship's heaters and air-rejuvenation 

tanks fail Captain" O'Neill asked.   
  


"Yes, I think with the use of the thermal underwear being distributed and the use of the 

warmer clothing, we should be able to cope with most of the cold conditions that we will 

experience. There has been an ample supply of long life food stuffs and dehydrated food 

brought aboard to see us through for months if we get behind schedule along the way." 

Bridger answered.   
  


"Are there any more questions?" he asked for a final time. "Good, then start making your 

preparations people because we should be underway in less than three hours and be 

near the southern waters about midnight tonight if weather permits. And if I were you 

I would make the most of the hot meal tonight from the galley because we are all going 

to need the extra nutrition when the cold starts to hit us later on. Dismissed"   
  


Everyone took a moment to look at each other with dubious looks about the dangers 

of the mission ahead. They had been in sticky situations before but this sounded a little 

more out of the ordinary. They all got up and went to make sure that they were prepared.   
  


"Do you really think we can pull this off Nathan?"Kristen asked with a little uneasiness 

of her own about the impending cat and mouse game they were about to embark on.   
  
  
  


"Yes, I think so. So long as everyone sticks together and works as a team I think we 

will be just fine." Bridger said trying to sound confident. "Now you need to check your 

medical equipment and supplies before we head off into the cold water beyond. I'll take 

care of things on the bridge until Lucas looks like waking up then I will go and talk 

to him and tell him about what's going to be happening over the next week or so."   
  


Kristen gave him a small smile and then left to do whatever preparations she could before 

they started their journey.   
  


SORRY - JUST WARMING UP A LITTLE TONIGHT - MORE TO COME - THE 

ACTION STARTS SOON I PROMISE.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. A DEEP COLDNESS

RESPONSIBILITY   
  


(On board the rogue sub somewhere in the southern oceans)   
  


"You sure we are going to be able to pull this off Cap" asked one of the terrorists.   
  


"I'm sure Mr Jones" replied a large man with a shock of blond hair on his head. His name 

was William Murphy. Up until about three months he had actually worked for the U.E.O. 

as a supply supervisor in a going-nowhere job in a nobody-knows your here part of the 

organization. It was time he work his colleagues up and he was about to do it in a most 

unorthodox manner.   
  


All his working life he had been kicked down and trodden on by people making their way 

to the top or making a name for themselves. He had been told that he wasn't good enough 

or smart enough for some of the brass's higher paid positions on the payroll. He had had 

enough. He was going to show them all what William Murphy was capable of an he was 

going to do it by luring the U.E.O. pride and joy flagship to the southern oceans and then 

take her by force. Then maybe somebody would sit up and take notice.   
  


"I got a hold of a list of the ship's crew that will be onboard her when she comes out way. 

It's a little older than I would have liked, but the only change to the staff roster that I know 

of is a Doctor Westphalen and she's some sort of science freak anyway." Murphy explained. 

"If those tins of peaches work like I hope they will and because there will only be a skeleton 

crew aboard in the first place, once they are all rolling around sick as dogs from the food 

poisoning, we should be able to storm the boat and take it over without too many problems."   
  
  
  
  
  


"There should be the following crew list as far as I can work out:   
  


Captain Nathan Bridger 

Doctor Kristen Westphalen 

Commander Jonathan Ford 

Benjamin Krieg 

Timothy O'Neill 

Miguel Ortiz   
  


Murphy said out loud.   
  


"Now you two make sure that everything is ready to proceed on time. I will contact the 

SeaQuest in about 2 days time when she is completely helpless and then we can board her 

and give our list of demands to the U.E.O. brass." Murphy continued.   
  


Murphy wasn't totally happy with the crew he had hired. The two of them weren't exactly 

the brightest sparks in the barrel but they had been willing to go along with his scheme for 

relatively little money. The two of them thought that they would make themselves a name 

at being terrorists if they took on the mightiest ship in the oceans, the SeaQuest.   
  


All he had to do was wait and play out his cards and all the glory was his for the taking. 

With the crew of the SeaQuest incapacitated he and his two disciples would have little 

trouble taking the vessel over and taking it to wherever they wanted to.   
  


*************************************************************************   
  


(Back on the SeaQuest)   
  


It was late afternoon and about two hours into the journey to the Antarctic, Bridger decided to 

check on the sleeping teenager and tell about where they were all headed. They couldn't turn 

around now but he thought it still best to tell the boy about the cold conditions that they were all 

about to experience over the next week or so.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Bridger knocked lightly on the door again and when he didn't get an answer he again went 

in without invitation. He was a little concerned about how long the boy had been sleeping. 

He knew that the kid had been working hard when he had been away at the meeting but 

he was worried that the fatigue was also due to the onset of a cold or flu that seemed to be 

beginning to show symptoms in Lucas.   
  


"Lucas?" he said in a gentle voice once he walked over to the bed. Lucas looked as though 

he hadn't moved around very much since he and Kristen had left the room earlier. 

He put his hand to Lucas's forehead but couldn't f eel any warmth there that might signal 

a temperature or anything else. The boy's face was actually quite pale in comparison 

confirming Bridger's earlier thoughts of the teenager coming down with the flu.   
  


The touch of his hand on the boy's forehead got the desired result and Lucas opened his 

pale blue eyes and gave a wan smile to his Dad as he tried to shake the heaviness of sleep 

from his foggy brain.   
  


Lucas winced a little as he sat up and the headache he from earlier was still present.   
  


"You okay?" Bridger asked him as he placed a soothing hand on the teenager's shoulder. 

Lucas.   
  


"My body is aching and the rest of me feels very heavy as well" Lucas admitted. "My throat 

is burning and my chest feels like its on fire. But other than that I feel completely fine." he 

tried to joke but then started coughing harshly again at the rough feeling in his lungs.   
  


"Do you want Kristen to come and have a look at you?" Bridger said as he took a mental 

note of all the symptoms Lucas cited.   
  


"No, I will be fine. Just need to take things easy for a while. Do you mind if I watch t.v. 

or something in your room?"   
  


"No I don't mind at all, but I think there's a little matter we both need to discuss first" 

Bridger said hinting at the argument with Commander Ford.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"How did you know?" Lucas said turning immediately to his defensive foot.   
  


"Um that would be because Ben and Commander Ford were trying to break down the door 

to your quarters when I came back on board the ship." Bridger replied.   
  


"Oh" Lucas said wanting to avoid the whole topic of discussion altogether. "Do we really 

have to talk about it now?" he added.   
  


"Not if your not feeling so great. We can wait until later to talk but I need to know that 

your okay about it. Jonathan told me all that he said and then repeated what you had 

yelled back. I'm sorry that those words hurt you so badly Lucas." Bridger said. 

"Yeah I guess they did at first, but now that I look back on it some of them actually had some 

truth to them. I just got a little hot under the collar the way Commander Ford decided to tell 

the whole crew about them. I mean some of those fellas are my friends. I felt about six inches 

tall when he was yelling at me like a five year old." Lucas said.   
  


"I know the way he went about things wasn't exactly the best but he is sorry for hurting you 

the way he did." Bridger said trying to smooth things over a little.   
  


"I'll go and talk to him after his shift and tell him that everything's cool again" Lucas said as 

he got up off the bed. When his feet hit the floor he was overwhelmed by a wave of giddiness 

and he grasped onto his dad with both hands to stop himself tumbling to the floor in an 

embarrassing heap.   
  


"I think you need something in your stomach Lucas" Bridger said as he steadied the teenager 

and looked him over once more for signs of sickness. "Want to come with Kristen and I to 

dinner in the mess tonight?"   
  


"Nah, I think I just catch up on some t.v. and stretch out on your couch for a while" Lucas 

replied. "I don't think my stomach would appreciate anything too heavy at the moment.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"How bout I make you up a batch of my famous Cream O Chicken soup?" Bridger now 

said with a large grin on his face. "It was what my mother used to make for me when I 

wasn't feeling so crash hot. Guaranteed to taste good and not fill you up too much."   
  


"Yeah okay that doesn't sound too painful a medicine." Lucas answered.   
  


"I bring it to you in my quarters and then tell you whereabouts we are headed at the 

moment" Bridger said as he followed Lucas outside the room.   
  


Lucas went to the Captain's quarters and stretched out on the couch and was just about 

dozing off to sleep when his dad entered the room carrying the bowl of steaming hot 

soup in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.   
  


Bridger laid the plate and glass down on the small coffee table in front of the couch and 

then looked back at the teenager and noted the dark circles of fatigue under his normally 

bright blue eyes. He was still half tempted to get a second opinion of Lucas's condition 

from Kristen but knew that the kid was still on edge after the argument. He would let 

the kid get a few more hours sleep after their discussion and then Kristen could take 

a look at him first thing in the morning if necessary.   
  


The soup was a little too hot and Lucas yelped a little when the hot liquid burnt the 

tip of his bottom lip as he brought the spoon closer to his mouth. "Sorry" he said and 

gave a sheepish smile as he put the bowl back on the table to cool a little..   
  


"What's in it? Lucas said trying to sound interested. To be truthful the only thing he 

wanted to was lay down and rest his aching head. The headache he had was now throbbing 

mercilessly but he saw the need and urge for his dad to talk to him about the upcoming 

mission they seemed to be already headed towards.   
  


"It's a secret recipe my mother handed down to me from her mother." Bridger said 

"I've made up quite a large pot full in the kitchen so I hope you do like it."   
  


"So where are we headed?" Lucas now asked completely changing the subject.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"We are headed to the Antarctic to track down a rogue submarine that has been 

causing havoc with some of the smaller remote out stations over the last couple of 

weeks." Bridger explained "There are some warmer clothes in your room and you 

will really need to get into them shortly as the temperature will drop very rapdily 

once we get further into the southern waters." 

"We're headed somewhere cold?" Lucas said with dismay clearly evident in his voice.   
  


"Yes, I am afraid so, why is that a big problem for you?" Bridger said hoping that it 

wasn't because they couldn't really turn back now.   
  


"It's just that I detest cold weather more than anything." Lucas admitted to his Dad. 

"I would rather be sweltering in the desert next to a cactus bush than be cold and 

freezing from ice and snow. I hate the cold."   
  


"Well hopefully it will only be for a few days at the most and with the ship's life 

support system and the warmer clothes you should be nice and warm the whole time." 

Bridger said. "Oh and I am sad to say that you won't be able to use your computers 

or the webnex over the next few days either. The communications will be bad at best 

and if were really unlucky we will lose them altogether in a few hours." Bridger said 

with a tone of sarcasm.   
  


"Oh just great, I feel like a sack of wheat, you taking me somewhere that only compares 

to living in a deep freeze and now you tell me that I won't be able to use my computers." 

Lucas said with cynicism. "You might as well have cut my arms off at the neck." he 

grumbled as his headache increased and the itch in his chest once again made him cough 

until his chest hurt from the effort.   
  


"I'm sure you will manage just fine" Bridger assured the teenager. He was still worried 

about that persistent cough that Lucas continued to display. It seemed to be gaining 

momentum and slowly getting more bothersome for the boy.   
  


"You want anything else in the mean time?" Bridger now asked as he planned to leave 

the boy to finish off his soup. "I will be in the mess with the crew if you need me."   
  
  
  


"Nah I will be fine" Lucas said as he had already settled back onto the couch in a lateral 

position. He had barely touched the soup and the pull of sleep looked as though it would 

be too strong to resist before he had a chance to even taste some of it. Oh well, maybe' 

it could be warmed up in the galley microwave later one. How did re-heated Cream O 

Chicken soup taste anyway? he asked himself as his eyes slowly closed.   
  


Bridger went to the Bridge and informed everyone that the boat would be placed on 

auto-pilot while they all partook in the evening meal together. They would be able to 

return to their duties in about an hour or so but the Captain wanted to make sure that 

everybody kept up their strength. The cold would zap more of their energy than most 

of them would realize and they needed the extra nutrition.   
  


Dinner was actually very relaxing for them all. There was only the six of them and 

the conversation was light-hearted and often caused them all to fall into fits of laughter 

as Ben Krieg kept the affair informal. It was rare that the six of them got to eat with 

each other during their regular tours of duty. Most of the time maybe only two or three 

of them could get together at anyone time.   
  


Bridger told them about Lucas not feeling so great and that the teenager was resting 

in his room for a while. They all make wisecracks about his ability to make Cream O 

Chicken soup but all inwardly were concerned about Lucas feeling so poorly. They 

all promised to see him later on if he was awake. Kristen was determined to make her 

own diagnosis of the boy and Commander Ford promised to have that heart to heart 

talk with him in the morning to apologize and make up for lost time.   
  


Dinner consisted of a dehydrated and genetically engineered roast of lamb with 

perfectly generated vegetables and gravy. The only thing that even tasted anywhere 

near real food was the great desert they all tucked into. It was hot peaches smothered 

in oodles of thick yellow custard. They all enjoyed the desert very much and had 

second and third helpings until all of it was gone.   
  


By 11.00 p.m. that night it was obvious to all that Lucas was not going to awaken from his 

healing sleep much before morning. The ship was left on auto-pilot as they made their 

way through the dark ocean towards Antarctica.   
  
  
  


With any luck they would reach their destination about midnight the following night 

but the cold weather would begin to effect the boat overnight. They all changed into 

their thermal underwear and warmer clothes before retiring for the night.   
  


Bridger and Kristen returned to the Captain's quarters and decided to leave the sleeping 

teenager where he was for the night. The boy looked comfortable enough even though his 

cheeks were coloured a slight redder colour from the flu. He had coughed a few times 

after they entered the room but were content to leave sleep work it's magic until morning. 

Kristen covered the boy with a warm quilt and then bid Nathan good night before returning 

to her own room.   
  


"Good night kiddo" Bridger said as he glanced back at the sleeping boy and climbed into 

his own bunk for the night.   
  


**************************************************************************   
  


The next morning, Lucas woke slowly and tried to figure out just where he was. He had 

very little recollection of the night before and could only vaguely remember talking to his 

dad before falling asleep on the couch.   
  


He threw back the covers over him and was startled by the sudden coldness that appeared 

to seep into the room. He had been the only one out of the entire crew not to put on 

the warmer clothes yet. He had fallen asleep in the Captain's quarters and hadn't put them 

on yet. He stretched and tried to get the kink out of his aching muscles. The ache was 

still there, maybe a little less this morning but still there and in newer places than yesterday. 

His headache had eased but his throat was now very sore and he had to swallow frequently 

just to ease the rawness he felt. His chest didn't feel so itchy this morning but it certainly 

felt heavier than the day before and Lucas thought that the coughing was now deeper and 

more pronounced. When it coughed it no longer just burned at the top of his chest, it now 

moved all the way down to the bottom of his rib cage and spread out over the whole of 

his chest area. His breathing was now wheezier and louder and he was trying his best 

not to get worried by trying to ignore it and hoped it all just went away soon.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The noise that made him jump was that of a groan coming from his Dad's bunk. He had 

immediately forgotten all about his own health concerns and knelt down beside his dad's 

bed to see if he was alright.   
  


"Dad?" he asked in a worried voice "Are you alright?" The Captain was turned away from 

the teenager.   
  


Bridger started to turn over towards Lucas and the boy couldn't hide his gasp of shock as 

he glanced at the sweat laden face before him. His dad's face was very pale, almost 

translucent and the man was actually sweating despite the coldness that he had felt when he 

woke up on the couch.   
  


"Get a bucket quick" was the only words his Dad could manage to get out before Bridger 

vomited all over the floor beside Lucas. When he finished with dry retches, the man lay 

back on the bed and closed his eyes concentrating on his breathing and the nauseousness 

in his stomch.   
  


Lucas wanted to be sick himself as he watched his father but he made himself be strong 

and knew that his dad was relying on him to help him. "I'll go get Kristen and a bucket 

and mop Dad. Don't you worry about a thing. I will be right back. Everything will be 

alright." he said. Who was he trying to convince, his dad or himself. He didn't think that 

either of them was confident at the moment.   
  


Lucas went to the Captain's door and took one more look at his father laying sick on his 

bunk before walking out into the corridor..   
  


"Oh hell it's cold" he said out loud to himself as he dug his fingers in underneath his shirt. If he 

thought it was cold in his father's quarters. Nothing prepared him for the coldest in the ship's 

corridor. He knew he hated the cold and he grumbled reminding himself how much he hated 

it as he made his way towards Kristen Westphalen's quarters.   
  


Lucas pulled his hand out from underneath his shirt long enough to knock on Kristen's door 

and then jammed it back underneath his shirt again. Boy it was cold.   
  
  
  
  
  


"Kristen?" he said a little more harshly when he didn't get the immediate attention from the 

doctor that his dad needed. He knocked again and thought he heard a soft "Come In" from 

the other side.   
  


Lucas cautiously opened the door to the Doctor's room and gasped out loud as he saw Kristen 

sitting on the edge of her bed not looking much better than the Captain himself.   
  


"Kristen are you alright" Lucas asked as he walked over and tried to offer as much comfort 

as possible. Dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he tried to force out the idea that both 

the Captain and the Doctor of the ship were both very sick from something. There was only 

a skeleton crew to begin with as he Dad had said and it would make it very difficult over the 

next few days if two of them were unable to perform their duties with the rest of the crew.   
  


"Lucas" Kristen said as she tried her best to compose herself. It didn't work and she felt 

miserable. "What's wrong?"   
  


"Oh nothing Doctor" Lucas lied. He knew that if Kristen knew Bridger was sick too, she 

would only worry herself more about taking care of him and not get well herself. 

"Something just told me that you weren't feeling so well." he added trying not to sound 

lame. "What can I do to help you Kristen?"   
  


"Not much Lucas" Kristen answered. "I think it is a case of food poisoning. I just have 

to ride it through and wait for it to work itself through my body. I will try and stay in 

bed as much as possible and drink plenty of liquids. That's the best thing I can do until 

this nauseous feeling passes. Nobody else is sick apart from me are they?" she asked 

hurriedly.   
  


"No, I don't think so" Lucas lied again. The knot in his stomach just got a whole lot 

bigger.   
  


"How are you going" Kristen now asked noting the still dark circles under the boy's 

blue eyes and the paleness of his skin. The boy still didn't look very well either.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Don't you worry about me" Lucas said in a stern voice. "I'll take care of you. 

I just go and get you some water and other stuff to make you more comfortable. 

I don't know much about being a doctor but I will help out where I can" he said   
  


"Lucas you don't......." she started to say.   
  


"No Kristen, I want to help. Now you just lie back and rest and I will be back 

in a few minutes." Lucas stated trying to make her relax more and rest.   
  


When he got outside, his legs had turned to jelly as he tried to take in the idea 

that both the Captain and the doctor were sick. He had better go and find Commander 

Ford in a hurry and tell him what was going on. They couldn't operate very well 

without Kristen and the Captain but he would make sure that they rested. The two of 

them had been there of numerous occasions when he was sick or injured so it was only 

fair that he returned the favour now when he was needed the most.   
  


The thing that grabbed Lucas's attention the most as he made his way to the Bridge, 

was the silence. Where the Bridger was normally the hive of activity of the SeaQuest, 

the nervous centre of the whole ship. This morning as he walked along the corridor 

and neared the Bridge there was nothing but silence.   
  


He thought it strange that nobody at all was about so he decided to check it out and 

made his way towards Commander Ford's quarters.   
  


Over the next half an hour, Lucas got shakier and shakier as he went from one room 

to the other of his fellow crew member's and found that not only were the Captain and 

the Doctor sick. They all were. Even Ben Krieg his best friend had been the picture 

of utter misery when Lucas opened the door to his room.   
  


They all seemed to have similar symptoms and it looked as though the Doctor had been 

correct in her own diagnosis of food poisoning. A couple of them had been reduced to 

physical vomiting like the Captain, others were sweating like him too. They all were 

very ill indeed.   
  
  
  
  
  


One by one he had entered their room and spoke to them offering words of comfort 

and promising them that he would return to take care of them. He told them that he 

would go and get them some water and a bucket in case they needed it to be sick in.   
  


All of them asked if they were the only ones sick and Lucas had lied to each of them 

and told them that everybody else was unaffected. He didn't want to cause a panic 

and worry any of them by telling them that everybody else was sick too.   
  


Somehow he told himself that he needed to take care of them himself and make 

them all as comfortable as possible. He couldn't contact the outside world due to the 

communication difficulties. How was he supposed to take care of them all by himself.   
  


As he walked out of Miguel's room, number six he leant up against the cold wall 

when he got outside and sat down on the mesh floor with his head in his hands as he 

tried to work things out in his head.   
  


Here he was, seventeen years old with six members of his crew sick from food poisoning 

or something similar. He had no knowledge of how to care for any of them. He didn't 

know what if any medicines he could use. He was the only one capable of walking 

about the ship at the moment and the way he had been feeling yesterday and this morning, 

that wasn't say much at all. He didn't know how long he could manage to stay on his 

own feet whilst caring for the others.   
  


He was all alone in the coldest part of the ocean. What was he going to do. For what seemed 

like eternity he just sat with his knees drawn up and his head resting in his hands as 

he tried to work out what he was going to do. He tried not to let the tears welling up in his 

eyes fall.   
  


THE END FOR NOW - AND OF COURSE THERE'S STILL THAT ROGUE SUBMARINE 

OUT THERE TO HANDLE YET !!!!!!!!!!!!!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. SURRENDER OR ELSE!!

RESPONSIBILITY 

  
  
  
After about twenty minutes of sitting on the cold mesh floor with his head resting on his knees, Lucas

sat up straight and started to admonish himself severely.

"Come on, look at you" Lucas started to say aloud to himself, "These people are depending on you when

they are sick and all you can do is sit on the floor and cry like a big baby. Some great help you are going

to be. It's just like Commander Ford said, you need to learn some more Responsibility."

Lucas got up on his feet and started to make a mental list of what were the first things he needed to take

care of. It was all up to him. There was no point in whining or whinging about it. That's the way things 

were and you had to lump it, like it or not.

He walked along the cold corridors of the SeaQuest and then sat at the galley kitchen counter trying to make 

a list of priorities and roster system. There would be meals to make for everybody even if they were sick. 

They all needed to keep up their liquid intake as much as possible and it was Lucas who would need to 

see to this. He would need to make up a roster system that enabled him to spend as much time with each 

of the crew members as possible without neglecting the other tasks that needed doing.

He had to get to the Bridge first and try to leave a message on the webnex in case some sort of message

could get back through to the U.E.O. that the crew was down and needed assistance. The ship operated

on auto pilot at the moment and that was probably how it would have to stay for the next few hours anyway.

For the next few hours, Lucas barely stopped to take a breath for himself. His head was aching along with

the rest of his body and his eyes were beginning to sting from the tiredness that plagued them. But he kept

telling himself that he couldn't afford the time to take care of himself at the moment. He had to help the 

others first. He could worry about himself when the others were much better.

He gave thanks and praise silently to the Captain for the large pot of soup that he had found still on the stove

in the SeaQuest's galley. At least he wouldn't have to worry about cooking until later in the day. He checked

over the other supplies in the galley pantry and found some fruit juices and plenty of water bottles. He had

made a point of going to Kristen's office to see what medications that doctor had on hand, but after looking at

the various names on the numerous little brown bottles in her infirmary. He decided against using any of it and

told himself that it would be better if the crew could just wait out the symptoms like Kristen had originally suggested.

Lucas made his way back to the Captain's room first with a mop and bucket to clean up the spill and make Bridger

a little more comfortable. He had to turn his head away from the ghastly sight and stop himself from gagging at the

smell that resulted from the yellowing liquid on the floor. Bridger had fallen back asleep still with bile on his t-shirt so 

once everything else in the room was cleaned up, Lucas went about waking the Captain and helping out of the 

stained shirt and into a fresh clean one. 

Bridger was half-way between being asleep and fully awake. He could see Lucas's face in front of his own, but

it wasn't very clear as to what was happening. He obediently did anything that Lucas asked him like raise his arms

and lift his legs. Lay down. Sit up. He didn't really know or understand why he was doing all of these things.

He really did feel awful but he didn't know the reason why just yet. 

"What's going on Lucas" he said as he was repositioned back on his bunk and the covers placed over him once

again. Lucas placed the pillows behind Bridger's back so that he was sitting up a little higher. He then sat down

on the bed and handed the Captain a cool glass of water. The water was about half drunk when the glass was

returned to his hand.

"Feel any better?" Lucas asked hoping that somehow that glass of water had been the miracle cure. He could

see the fog lifting from Bridger's mind as the Captain seemed to regain some of his lost senses and become more

alert to his surroundings. 

"No" came the curt reply as Bridger tried to focus on his protesting stomach muscles. He looked at the teenager

and could see that his response was less than welcome. He put a comforting arm on the boy's shoulder "But it's

not more than I can manage, thanks." he added.

"You've gotten a touch of food poisoning" Lucas explained as he answered Bridger's unasked question of what

was wrong with him. "I came in to see you this morning and you threw up all over the floor." 

Bridger's expression changed to one of embarrassment as he heard about being sick. He felt really guilty about

Lucas not only having to witness such a unhealthy display but also clean up after him and help change his soiled

clothes. "Sorry" was the only word he could find to hide his embarrassment.

"S-Okay" Lucas said with a slight grin. "It will remain a secret between me and you."

"You mean Kristen doesn't know about any of this yet?" Bridger asked surprised.

Lucas found himself trying to think of a quick lie but then decided that the Captain's suspicious nature would

soon bore right into his soul and get the correct answer anyway. "She was a little off colour herself this morning

Captain" Lucas admitted trying not to inject any more alarm into his voice than needed.

"You mean Kristen is sick too?" Bridger said as he sat up even more on the bed and almost looked as though he

was about to get up and walk out of the room and find the doctor.

"Yeah, but she is not as bad as you" Lucas lied. "Don't worry, everybody else is carrying on okay without

you and Kristen" he said thinking that the lies were beginning to leave an aftertaste in his mouth. What he didn't

want to reveal to the Captain was the "Everybody else" was sitting right in front of him.

"Are you sure everything is operating on the Bridge okay?" Bridger asked concerned. His head was beginning to

pound from too much thought and he had to tell himself to lay back down or he would be sick all over again.

"Doctor's orders are for plenty of rest and fluids as much as possible" Lucas said trying to reiterate Kristen's

own self-healing regime. "If you get out of that bed, I have been told that I only need to call upon her or any

one of the other crew members and have a large painful sedative administered by way of injection to the posterior

region." Lucas said with a smirk and hopefully enough information to scare Bridger into not venturing out on his

own and finding the true state of affairs aboard his boat. 

"She wouldn't" Bridger accused him in a questioning manner. But then the look on his face changed again as 

he answered his own question "Yes she would." he said with dismay as he was all too familiar with Kristen's

strong arm tactics when it came to taking care of sick people.

Lucas had laughed briefly but now that he had been sitting down for a few minutes talking, the aches in his body

and the tiredness threatened to overwhelm him if he remained stationary for too long.

"Oh well" Lucas said as he stood up painfully and grimaced without Bridger seeing his face. "Better get back out

there and see where I am needed. I should be back to see you in an hour or so. Now remember, no getting out

of bed for any reason. If you want something, please use your comm-link and I will come to you." he warned.

The boy's pale complexion and dark circles had not gone completely unnoticed by Bridger. "Are you alright

yourself Lucas?" he asked trying to put his own sickness aside to study the tired looking teenager in front of him.

"Me?" Lucas asked trying to sound surprised. "Yeah you know me Captain. Too many late nights playing 

computer games. Not enough meal times at the mess. I'm fine really. I am just going to help out where I can

for a few hours and then have an early night." he explained.

Bridger seemed to be satisfied with the explanation for the time being. He nodded his agreement "See you later 

then" as Bridger settled himself back down in a laying position on his bed ready to get some of that rest Lucas

had been talking about earlier.

Lucas exited the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He picked up the tray of juices and water that

he had deliberately left outside in the corridor to avoid causing any suspicion and started walking towards Kristen's

quarters.

Back on board the rogue sub only a few nautical miles away from the SeaQuest in the freezing waters outside, William

Murphy was sitting down at his own table quietly contemplating how sick the crew of the SeaQuest might already

be from his little undetected gift. He would wait a few more hours until late that afternoon to contact the ship and

get a true assessment of her disablement. With all of the crew sick from food poisoning, taking her over and 

using her crew as hostages against the U.E.O. should prove easy enough he told himself and his crew of two.

When Lucas reached Kristen's quarters, he set the tray outside the door again and then knocked briefly before

quietly opening the door and walking in. He knew that Kristen probably didn't hear his knock anyway but it

was still the right thing to do.

Kristen appeared to be asleep as he neared the bunk. He was about to set the bottle of juice on the table

and go about see to some of the others first when he saw the doctor open her eyes and look back at him.

"Lucas?" Kristen said as she tried to clear her own mind and remind herself about what had been going on.

"What are you doing here?" she asked without thinking. 

"Thought you might have been able to use this" he replied with a lop-sided grin. "And thought you might be

able to use some company for a few minutes" he added.

"That is very thoughtful of you Lucas" she replied as she manoeuvred into a sitting position and took the bottle

of apple juice that was offered and sipped at the contents. It wasn't the best around, but it would help alleviate

the nauseous feeling in her stomach at the moment more than any other beverage.

Kristen was a little more quick to pick up on Lucas's tiredness than the Captain. She too was worried about

the teenager. She had heard him coughing when he entered the room. "Lucas you look like you need this a lot

more than me at the moment" she said gently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Lucas found himself repeating his speech to Kristen as he had given Bridger but a few minutes ago "Just

too many late nights playing the computer games. Just told the Captain that I would get some rest shortly."

"Oh so the Captain is okay is he" she asked a little thankful that it was only her that was sick from the food poisoning.

"I just came back from the Bridge." Lucas lied. "He said to give you strict instructions not to leave this bed for

any reason until you were better or you would be in big trouble."

"Oh did he now" Kristen said as she tried not laugh at the orders she had apparently been given. "Well I've got

a few words to say to Captain Bridger" she remarked. 

Lucas put a gentle but restraining arm on her leg as she attempted to get out of bed and confront him about his

medical advice "He really is concerned for you Kristen. He just wants to make sure that you are okay and 

taking care of yourself. There's more than enough other people around to take care of the SeaQuest." 

The speech seemed to have the right effect that Lucas was looking for and she was questioning herself even now

about her plans to get out of bed. One more full day of rest couldn't hurt. She didn't want to feel like she was

in the way she told herself. 

Lucas could see that his sentiments had worked to some degree. "Okay Lucas, you and the Captain win. I

will stay in bed for today. But as soon as I am feeling better again, the Captain and I are going to have a 

nice little chat."

Lucas laughed out loud but inwardly winced for his dad as he knew all too well what "a nice little chat" meant

from Kristen. Lucas had better make sure that he made himself scarce when the two of them got talking together

about what had actually been said to one another.

Over the next two hours, Lucas went from room to room making sure that everybody had what they needed to

start feeling a little better. He made sure that there was plenty for them to drink. Miguel Ortiz and Tim O'Neill

had promised him that they had no intentions of getting out of bed today. They both told him how rotten they

really felt and both of them had plans to sleep for the majority of the day. Lucas had told them that their rostered

duties had been filled by others and that the rest of the crew could manage without them until they were feeling

100% again.

Commander Ford had been the hardest to convince that he needed to rest for the day. Being a military man, it

was very rare for Jonathan to take a day's sick leave. In the past he had managed on a number of occasions to

successfully complete his shift while not feeling the best. It had taken a similar sort of threat about Kristen 

administering a sedative in the butt to the dark-skinned Commander to get him to rethink his protests about taking

a day off. Lucas had told him that the Captain had filled his shift for him and everything was still running smoothly

without him.

"Here I am trying to tell you to learn some Responsibility Lucas, and look at me" Ford said as he took a bottle

of orange juice from the teenager. "I feel really guilty that somebody, especially the Captain has to fill in for me.

I should be up on the Bridge attending to all the important things."

"Those other important things, as you put it Commander" Lucas replied " can wait until you are feeling better.

Food poisoning is not a something to joke about. You need to let your body rest and recuperate for the rest

of the trip. We have only just arrived in the Antarctic and possibly have a few days down here in the cold.

We need you working at your best, not when your tired and sick." Lucas finished his speech and then started

to cough again. The cough had turned from a slight tickle into a deep burning sensation in his chest every time

he took a breath. His lungs felt like they were starving for every breath of air. His breathing was getting

noisier. He got up and was about to walk away when Ford something that made him turn around and listen.

"I'm sorry Lucas" Ford stammered. "I shouldn't have said those words I said the other day about Responsibility.

I had no right to tell you any of that and I am sorry about what I said about you and the Captain Lucas. You

deserve better treatment of that and I am ashamed for the hurt that I caused you. Can you forgive me please?"

Lucas looked back at the Commander with respect and admiration in his eyes. He admired the man for having

the guts to come out and say he was sorry. He had earned Lucas's respect long before today. 

"You don't need to apologize Commander" Lucas said. "Maybe it's me that needs to say how sorry I am for

shouting at you the other day. Sure some of the things you said hurt. But maybe they hurt so much because

some of them hit home. Although I try and do my best here, there are a few times when I need pulling back onto

the straight and narrow. I just hope that when those times come again, it's you Commander that is there to give

me that swift kick in the rear that I need to get me on track again. The thing about Bridger and I, well maybe

that's true, maybe not. I am not ashamed to call him my dad but I am ashamed for him to call me his son without

earning it sometimes." he said and left the conversation unended. He have a small smile and left the room and

headed towards his last point of call before heading back to the kitchen and the Bridge, Ben Krieg's room.

Of course Ben Krieg had to be different from everybody else aboard who was feeling the effects of the food

poisoning. If there was one thing that remained the same on this ship it was the fact that Ben Krieg let everybody

else know he was around. Today was no exception to that rule and probably worse than normal. Where the

others had tried to hide the fact that they were sick or at least keep it low key, Ben let Lucas know from the 

moment he walked in that he felt awful. 

Lucas approached his friend's bed and could hear the over-exaggerated moaning that came from the Lieutenant.

He rolled his eyes at his friend's ability to act out even the mildest symptoms into life-threatening spasms of 

pain and despair.

"How are you feeling Ben?" Lucas asked already knowing the answer to the question.

"How am I feeling?" Ben said answering with the same question. "I'll tell you how I am feeling Lucas, terrible,

just terrible. I feel as though my insides have been ripped out, turned inside out and then shoved back in again.

My stomach hurts so much I think that I never want to see a morsel of food again in my entire life. Have you

got any drugs on you Lucas huh?"

"No Ben, the doctor said rest and liquid only until the symptoms go away" Lucas told him. "I am sure you will

start to feel better soon buddy." Lucas found himself sitting on the edge of Ben's bunk now. Tired and exhausted

himself from his own bout of sickness. Unlike Ben however, he was the worst at trying to hide his pain and 

discomfort from everybody else.

"How bout you lie down on the other bunk over there and take a nap yourself Luke" Ben suggested as he could

see the tiredness etched on the teenager's face. He felt a little guilty now at just how much he had exaggerated his

own sickness when he looked at Lucas. The kid looked tired and the cough he had was becoming harsher and

more frequent.

"Nah, I'll be alright Ben" Lucas said getting up off the bed in a hurry before Ben could get a closer assessment of

just how poorly he actually felt. "Just got a couple of small jobs to do first and then it's lights out for me too."

he lied. "I'm just here to make sure that you are looking after yourself enough."

Lucas had made it all the way to the door and almost outside when Ben asked the question he dreaded "Whose

looking after you but Lucas?". Lucas had closed the door without answering his friend's question.

**************************************************************************************

With the crew now all relatively comfortable in their own beds and having sufficient liquids with each of them to see

them through the next few hours alright, Lucas turned his attention to the Bridge and trying to get a message through

to the people at U.E.O. headquarters.

He had done the necessary preparations in the galley kitchen for the soup. He would visit them all again later that

afternoon and give them each a bowl of the watered down soup. He had added what he thought was enough to

make it stretch out between them all. He just hoped that it still had some taste to it. As he left the kitchen to

go to the Bridge, he took the roster he had drawn up with him to check over and made any adjustments while

trying out his distress messages.

He walked onto the Bridge and parked his thin frame onto the Captain's chair. He put the roster down on the

small slanting table in front of him and forced his eyes to focus on the various controls on the console so that he

could send a message. The ship's engines seemed to be running smoothly enough on auto pilot. They gave

a reassuring hum as they continued to keep the ship's life-support and various other vital parts in motion.

Lucas found his own brain becoming foggy from the aches and pains in his limbs. His chest felt so sore and

his was coughing almost continually now. He lifted his hand up to brush away some of the locks of blond hair

had fallen in his eyes, only to feel his forehead and notice that it felt quite hot to the touch. He forced himself

to look back at the task at hand and told himself that he still couldn't worry about his own wellbeing until the

others were recovered. 

At some point, without even realising it, his body just gave out and he fell into a deep exhausted sleep whilst

still sitting in the Captain's chair on the Bridge. His head rested on his hand on the console and he was 

undisturbed for the best part of an hour. His rest was short lived though as the main screen kicked into life.

The sound had startled him so much that he accidentally tumbled out of the chair he had been sleeping in and

onto the Bridge floor. He could see a face appear on the screen, but instinct told him that it would be best

if he stayed out of the line of vision for the time being.

It was at this moment that William Murphy decided to make his first contact with the SeaQuest and her crew.

"Attention Captain Nathan Bridger" Murphy said in a commanding voice. The man on the screen didn't seem

to be wondering if Captain Bridger was at all present, the man kept talking as though he just assumed the 

Captain would normally on the Bridge of the SeaQuest at the appropriate time of this message.

"Captain Bridger" Murphy repeated. "You don't know me, but my name is Sergeant William Murphy. I am

in command of a submarine only a few hundred metres away from your vessel. I am of the belief that most

of your senior crew has been struck down with some sort of illness that has made you vulnerable. This piece of

news is vitally important to me and my crew as we aim to capture your vessel the SeaQuest. We will board

her at our time of choosing, and when we do, you will obey every direction given to you and your crew and

surrender your command at once. If you co-operate in this manner, your crew will be captured, but not harmed

in any other way. You are all to be held hostage until further notice and until our list of demands to the U.E.O.

headquarters is met."

Lucas found his breathing becoming even more shallower from the fear he felt as he heard the threatening words

over the loud speaker. He was thankful that he was currently hidden from view and tried to squish himself up against

the desk anymore to mask his presence. What was he going to do now he asked himself. How did these people

know about the crew being sick? He couldn't fight off these people on his own and doubted that help would arrive

from anywhere nearby.

"Please do not be fooled Captain Bridger" the voice continued "My vessel is prepared to torpedo your vessel

should you attempt to run from us or attempt to stop our mission in any way. Should any of your crew not 

co-operate to the fullest, they will be dealt with very harshly indeed. I will contact your ship in three hours 

precisely to hear your response to my demands." and the transmission was quickly terminated and the screen

went dark almost immediately.

Thoughts started to run around Lucas's head about people storming aboard the SeaQuest and taking the crew

hostage. What was he going to do? He found it difficult to think straight given his fear and his present health

condition. At least the incoming transmission was enough to bring him fully awake again. He didn't know how

long he could keep awake for this time, but he needed to stay alert and stop these people from taking over the

SeaQuest.

His mind started wandering over events and conversations that had taken place over the last few days. Suddenly

an idea struck him. He had been asking himself about how he would fight these people off alone when the idea

came to him that maybe he could fool the would-be terrorists into thinking that the crew were ready to fight back

and defend the boat. He started to think about the tape he had played a few days earlier on the Bridge using

the characters of the crew that he had generated in the computer. If he could re-configure the program and

add a few lines of command into the whole thing, when they contacted the SeaQuest again, he might be able

to play part of the tape and fool them into thinking that there was a full and fit crew aboard ready to fight back.

It would take a number of hours to complete, but if he worked non-stop he might be able to do it in about

an hour if he was lucky.

He forced his aching and feverish body off the Bridge and towards the ship's galley. He had approximately

three hours before the terrorists made contact again. He could make sure that the crew were feed and had

enough to drink first. Once they were all comfortable again and taken care of, he would be able to work

uninterrupted on the program and hopefully have it ready to play when the transmission started again in three

hours.

Lucas reheated the soup into six bowls and placed a glass of water on each tray. He would have to take

one tray at a time, which meant a few trips back and forth to the galley, but it couldn't be done any other way

without arousing suspicion about them all being the only person sick at the moment.

One by one Lucas took the tray of soup and glass of water to each of the patients and made sure that they

all had enough blankets to keep them warm. He stopped and talked to each of them as long as he dared so

as to keep up appearances. He told them all that they looked remarkably better than earlier and told them

that he thought they would be recovering well by the morning. 

Each of the crew had asked Lucas if he was alright as they heard the boy's nagging cough and saw his blood-shot

eyes. He promised them all that he was fine and would be retiring to his own bed just as soon as he left each one

of them. Nobody thought that the kid would outright lie to them and they felt guilty about being rough with him when

he looked so poorly so they refrained from asking too many questions.

By the time he had given out the last tray of soup and juice and returned to the galley, Lucas was on the verge of

collapse. His legs had turned to jelly and trembled from the fatigue and pain that racked his body. He supported

himself by using the counter and waited until he thought the trembling had subsided slightly before making his

way back to the Bridge ready to work on the program and get ready for the transmission from the terrorists in

under two hours.

Lucas looked up at the clock and told himself that he needed to work faster. The images and letters on the computer

screen were beginning to become blurred and unrecognizable. He fought with his body to keep going until the task

was completed. When it was all done he told his body that he would rest for just a little while. The truth being once

he was finished it would be time to play nurse again and see that the crew were still going okay. The program had

taken longer than he anticipated and even now he didn't now whether or not the people watching the tape would

be fooled by the performance. He had been forced to add in quite a number of extra characters into the Bridge

shot and that caused the image to distort a little when played back. He had to hope that the people concerned 

weren't looking too closely at the scene when they contacted the ship.

He had only just managed to over lay the generated images onto the screen imaging equipment when the screen

came to life again and Lucas could see the man who called himself William Murphy. 

William Murphy was getting an image at his end and was about to ask Captain Bridger whether or not he was

prepared to surrender his vessel when he stopped and surveyed the screen in front of him. Something was 

dreadfully wrong. He could see what looked like a full crew in view aboard the Bridge of the SeaQuest.

The crew was only supposed to be skeletal in numbers to begin with and then most of them were supposed to

be sick due to the food poisoning. From what he could see it looked at though the SeaQuest currently carried

a full and able crew ready to defend the vessel against any attack he had in mind.

He could see the dark-skinned Commander he had been led to believe was Commander Jonathan Ford, the

vessel's second in charge. He could see the Chief Engineer at her post and the radar monitor and the 

communication people at their consoles. He had to go about and think about his plan before making any

rash decision. He quickly disabled the transmission and froze the image of the Bridge that he was receiving

on his submarine.

Back aboard the SeaQuest, Lucas gave a small cheer of triumph. It was all that he could manage at the

moment. He knew that his idea about using a fake crew had worked but he really was too sick and tired

to care anymore. He looked over at the clock and told himself that he needed to get some more stuff from

the kitchen and do his rounds again to the rest of the crew. It was almost 6.00am in the morning now.

His fever had increased slightly and the heat radiating from his body now gave him a false sense of feeling

warm from the cold corridors. He was about to look at his hand-drawn roster and work out what he needed

when his legs suddenly gave way on him and he found himself sitting on the galley floor. He had his back leaning

up against the row of cupboards below the counter. Little did he notice that he was in a small niche in the room

that made it impossible to see from above unless somebody walked to behind the row of cupboards. He didn't

feel his head bowing towards his chest as he fell into a deep sleep again. His mind was clouded by the fever

and the aches. He drifted off and sat on the cold hard floor without even realising he had fallen asleep. His body

just gave out. Couldn't go any further. The fatigue, the fever, the pain had all but caught up for him and the

tired boy slept.

****

On board the rogue submarine, one of Murphy's crew members was studying the screen and looking at the

image a little closer than his boss. He thought that the image looked a little strange and thought it best to

voice his opinion.

"Something's wrong with that picture" he said still watching the screen.

Curiosity got the better of Murphy at this statement "What do you mean?"

"Well it doesn't look real, something's wrong with it. It looks all bent out of shape if you know what I mean.'

the man explained.

"Yeah, now you mention it, it does look kinda strange. What could it mean?" Murphy asked. 

The man had some computer skills and had been hired on this mission to hack into some of the SeaQuest's

computers. He wasn't the best but he could get in most back doors if he tried. He played with the image for

a few seconds before speaking.

"It's a fake" he said when he finally realised what was in front of him. "It's a damn good one, but it's not real."

"What do you mean it's not real?" Murphy asked in anger. His blood started to boil at the thought that his 

carefully constructed plan was about to come apart at the very seams. 

"It's like a cartoon. Somebody made up the characters and put them on the screen to fool you." the man replied.

"I got to tell you though, in my experience, whoever did this is a real pro. I mean I have never seen anybody this

good before. I doubt many people could have pulled this off."

Murphy's mind started thinking back to the mental list he had in his head of who was aboard the SeaQuest and

their abilities. He didn't remember seeing anybody listed with extraordinary computer skills. There were a few

technicians mentioned, but nobody with the skills that were needed to pull off something like this. Who was this

mystery person that was aboard the SeaQuest?

"See if you can hack into the SeaQuest's personnel files and tell me who's responsible for this little charade." Murphy

said to the man. "While your there see what else you can dig up." 

About ten minutes later, the man turned around in his chair ready to give his answer to Murphy. "I managed to

get into the personnel files but that's about all. Whoever designed the security system on that boat has got to be

number one with computers. I couldn't have hacked into the toilet system without leaving a trail back to us a mile

wide. I found your list though and I think I have our suspect." the man left the sentence unended and pulled up

the photograph and background description of one of the people aboard SeaQuest.

When Murphy first saw the photograph even before reading the education stuff he had his doubts about this 

being the right person "Are you sure you hacked into the SeaQuest personnel files?" he asked as his gaze was

focused on the picture of a blond haired teenager about 17 years of age. What was somebody that young 

doing aboard the SeaQuest. Who was he? If he was aboard, he wasn't on the list that Murphy had stolen

from the U.E.O.

"Yeah I'm sure, and I'm sure he's the one we are looking for. Just look at his background." the man said

as Murphy started to read the kid's education and history. He could see the mention of the genius I.Q.

About the graduation from Stanford College at the age of 14 and then the posting to SeaQuest as the Chief

Computer Analyst before the age of 16. He was definitely the one alright. He had the know how and the

skills by the looks of things. 

"And look what else I managed to discover" the man announced as he displayed Lucas's unread message

to the U.E.O. about the entire crew being sick and needing help urgently. Lucas had mentioned in the

message that he too had been feeling poorly but felt strong enough to keep caring until help arrived.

This information only made Murphy more determined to get even. Not only had things such as teenagers

being aboard submarines been kept from him while he worked for the U.E.O.. But they had been duped

by a kid. A God Damned, blond haired kid only 17 years old had destroyed the plan he had made for

months to take over the SeaQuest. He read the kid's name was about to make a third communication

to the SeaQuest and Mr Lucas Wolenczak.

On board the SeaQuest, Captain Nathan Bridger awoke in his room and looked around the room. The

clock told him that it was 7.00am in the morning. He rubbed at his eyes and forced himself a bit more awake.

He sat up slowly at first, waiting for the wave of nausea to hit him. It didn't come. He waited for the throb

in his head to start, but it didn't. It looked as though the worst of his sickness was over. He still felt a little

stiff, but that was probably from being in bed for a whole 24 hours. Surprisingly he felt hungry too. Yesterday

he scarcely wanted to even look at food, but today his stomach felt a lot better. 

Bridger put on his robe and slippers and was about to come out of his room to check on things around the ship.

Lucas's threatening words from Kristen briefly echoed in his mind, but he felt strong enough today to fight off

the red-haired doctor if necessary. Kristen's quarters was only a few metres from his own so he decided to

stop there briefly first before trying to find Lucas. He had remembered how tired and pale the kid had been

looking yesterday and wanted to make sure that he was resting okay.

As he got to Kristen's door and was about to knock, he was surprised to have the door opened for him by

the doctor herself.

"Good morning Nathan" Kristen said greeting him cheerfully. She too felt a whole lot better than the day

before. She had remembered Lucas telling her about the Captain being sick and wanted to check on him 

now that she was back on her feet a little.

"I-I" Bridger started to stammer as he quickly tried to think of an excuse for his being found out. His attention

however was drawn from his own thoughts to that of the doctor's attire. She was dressed still in her own bath

robe which would suggest that she too shouldn't be out of bed.

"What are you doing out of bed Kristen?" Bridger asked in a cool but mock tone of voice.

"I'm a doctor thankyou Captain and I can judge for myself when I am well enough to get out of bed" she retorted

back. Her gaze also fell on his attire. She was not used to seeing the Captain in such informal attire when he was

aboard the boat. 

"You're not sick too are you?" Kristen said with worry in her voice.

"Am I sick too?" Bridger asked confused. "I have been in bed since yesterday. I felt awful all day yesterday.

Lucas came in and looked after me the whole day practically."

"He looked after me practically the whole day as well. I couldn't get out of bed yesterday either I am afraid."

Kristen said with a little guilt in her voice. But then her mind went back to what Lucas had first told her

"But he told me that I was the only one who was sick." she said suspiciously.

"He told me that you were sick but nowhere near as bad and I was. He said other things around here 

were normal. That the rest of the crew were handling things just fine without me." Bridger said.

They both looked at each other and knew that Lucas had been less than forth coming with them about

just who and how many people had been sick over the last day or so. 

"Let's just see where the rest of the crew is shall we" Kristen said as her concerns started to grow for

the rest of the crew. She remembered how tired and sick Lucas had seemed last night when he came 

in. She was telling herself that it wasn't possible that everybody aboard the ship was sick but the boy.

It couldn't be true could it.

Bridger's eyes seemed to hold the same realizations and their pace towards Commander Jonathan Ford's

quarters increased steadily. When they knocked on the door and were greeted by a still sick looking

Ford, their suspicions were aroused even more. They asked Ford about his last day or so aboard the

ship. He reluctantly told them that he had been violently ill from food poisoning and that Lucas had taken

care of him all day. Ford proceeded to tell Bridger about his little revealing conversation with Lucas

and what the boy had said about responsibility and how he sometimes felt less worthy of being Bridger's

son because of his lack of judgment.

Bridger cursed himself and inwardly groaned at the comments and knew that he had to talk to Lucas and

tell him that he would always be a son in his eyes. Lucas had been the one person to bring this tired old

sea captain back from the brink of destruction. Bridger would have resolved himself to stay on that island

alone forever and never know what it meant to care for someone again. That had all changed when he had

reluctantly came aboard the SeaQuest and met one blond haired, blue eyed teenager full of mischief and

attitude. He wouldn't have changed anything about the delicate relationship that had formed between him

and the boy. He would give his life for him if that what was required. He loved the kid more than words

could possibly say.

Bridger and Kristen relayed their own experiences to the Commander as well as their being told that nobody

else was sick. The three of them quickly moved through the remaining crew members of Miguel, Tim and

Ben to find the same result. They had all been sick. Lucas had been taking care of them all single-handedly.

They all mentioned how sick looking Lucas had appeared to them when caring for them. They all had said

that Lucas's cough sounded worse and that the boy was looking even more fatigued.

Once question remained on their lips. If Lucas had been taking care of them all on his own while he was sick.

Where was he now? Had he been taking care of himself? They all doubted that. All six of them started hurriedly

towards Lucas's quarters hoping to see the boy curled up asleep in his own bed and resting or at least find him

in order to give him a tongue-lashing. All of them felt incredibly guilty about Lucas having to take care of them

all. How did he do it all on his own, while he was sick?

Upon reaching Lucas's door and opening it, they were all disappointed and dismayed to find the room completely

empty. That meant that Lucas was still wondering around somewhere while sick, still trying to take care of the

whole crew. They had to find him.

They all headed towards the most likely place, the Bridge. They reached the Bridge but could not see Lucas

anywhere in sight. They could see that he had been sitting at the Captain's console. They could see the hand-

drawn roster on the desk that Lucas had constructed in order to care for them all at the same time. They all

looked on with shock and amazement at the boy's ingenuity but they also saw that the roster left little time for

looking after himself or getting some much needed rest. They needed to find him.

The crew members on the Bridge were all a little startled to hear the main screen in front of them whirr into

life as William Murphy decided to call out Lucas's bluff and address the SeaQuest again.

"Well, Mr Wolenczak" Murphy started without really seeing the crew in front of him. He assumed that the

boy would be out of sight, especially if he was all alone like it appeared. 

"I must congratulate you on your performance." Murphy said "You are a very clever young man. You had

us fooled for a while there. But now it's all over. We have discovered your little game but now it is time to

get back to our demands and our plan to take over SeaQuest. We know that you are all alone and not

feeling the best." 

Bridger and everybody else just looked at each other. This was the first time any of them had heard any of

this conversation. Who was it on the screen? Why were they talking about taking over the SeaQuest? How

did they know Lucas's name. Had Lucas been talking to these people while everybody else was sick?

They didn't have the answer.

"You might want to re-think your current employment situation Mr Wolenczak and come and join my organisation.

We could use a smart young, innovative person like yourself. My little operation plans to kick big operations like the

U.E.O. where it hurts. I would be happy to negotiate some terms with you if you would just acknowledge your

presence to me. I promise you no harm, you are too valuable an asset to simply kill."

The conversation had turned nasty and the man was using the words "Kill" and "Lucas" in the same sentence and

that just made Bridger see red. He pushed the button on the communication panel that would allow his voice to

be heard by the mystery speaker.

"Listen here whoever you are, I am Captain Nathan Bridger of the SeaQuest. I don't know what your little game

it but I don't like it. This vessel is fully operational and ready to defend herself if necessary. If you plan to launch

an attack on SeaQuest then I suggest you think again. I don't like having members of my crew threatened or

coerced into anything. Am I making myself perfectly clear. I suggest you surrender your vessel and allow us to

escort you back to U.E.O. headquarters. You and your crew will be given a fair trial."

Murphy was stunned to hear Bridger's voice and note the amount of venom in it. It didn't sound as if this man

was supposedly very sick. He gave the order to start the engines and was about to make a run for it when he

heard Bridger's voice over the link again.

Ortiz had made his way over to his console and had targeted the rogue submarine and was about to take any

further instructions as necessary.

"Ready Mr Ortiz" Bridger inquired over the loud speaker. 

"All four torpedo tubes ready to fire Captain" Ortiz answered with confidence. 

Murphy paled a little when he heard that the SeaQuest had a target lock on his vessel. He knew he wouldn't

be able to outrun the torpedo's nor survive any sustained attack should the weapons actually strike his boat.

At the moment he had no choice but to surrender and let himself and the crew be lead back to U.E.O. headquarters

as was being suggested. 

"Okay Captain Bridger, I surrender my vessel and my crew. But I warn you this little battle isn't over yet between

me and the U.E.O. I want them to understand what they did to me was wrong. I want them to know that William

Murphy is a name to remember." He told himself that there would be opportunities for payback and he would be

able to re-establish a new plan once they arose again. There would be time for **_revenge against all of them, Captain_**

Bridger and the SeaQuest crew, the U.E.O. and Mr Lucas Wolenczak.**__**

"Yeah, Yeah Yeah" Bridger said in an uninterested tone and allowed Commander Ford to take full command

of the Bridger while he, Ben and Kristen took on other important matters. Those that consisted of finding one

sick and missing teenager.

Bridger walked off the helm determined to find Lucas. Where would he be? he asked himself. There were a

number of places that the boy could be. The trio walked towards the moon pool first. Darwin came up to

them and greeted them with chirps and whistles before they were translated through the voice recorder as

_Lucas need Bridger. Lucas need Ben._

These words from only a dolphin only confirmed their fears about Lucas being very sick and only caused them

to worry even more. "Do you know where he is Darwin my friend?" Bridger asked with urgency 

**_"__Lucas in place were food is made" __Darwin__ chirped._**

"He must be in the galley kitchen" Kristen shouted out loud as she tried to interpret Darwin's crude vocabulary.

All three of them started off towards the kitchen to find Lucas.

When they reached the galley their hopes dropped a little when they looked around the room from the front

entrance and failed to see any sign of the teenager. They were all asking themselves what other place Darwin

could have meant when something made Ben Krieg walk into the galley around the counter and row of 

cupboards.

He couldn't hide the gasp of shock or dismay that escaped his lips as his eyes fell upon a most heart-wrenching

site on the floor. Lucas was now laying all the way on the floor, his head resting in the crook of his extended

right arm.

"He's back here" Ben shouted at the other two. "Oh Lucas what have to done to yourself" he asked the teenager

as he knelt down beside him to see if he could rouse him at all.

"Lucas" Bridger and Westphalen shouted in unison as they rushed forward into the galley and saw what Krieg

had seen upon entering the room.

Bridger knelt down as well on the cold hard floor and placed a hand on the boy's cheek. He was alarmed by

the heat that he felt in the boy's skin and immediately asked for Ben to make way for Kristen to take a look at

Lucas.

Bridger had tried calling the teenager's name a few times along with Ben, but Lucas didn't seem to hear either

of them. They could see that pale and wan complexion and hear the gasping wheeze escaping the boy's

parted lips as he drew each breath. 

Even whilst asleep the boy's body shivered slightly from laying on the cold tiled floor. Kristen asked Ben to

hurry and find a couple of warm blankets to warm Lucas. The lieutenant was reluctant to leave his sick

friend but was encouraged gently by Bridger and Kristen that he was in fact helping by doing this simple task.

Kristen had continued trying to rouse Lucas by rubbing lightly on his cheek. She felt the heat too and then

placed the palm of her hand on his forehead and grimaced aloud at the temperature that was present.

"Lucas can you hear me? Can you hear me Lucas?" Kristen asked in a soft but firm voice as he continued

with massaging the boy's limbs trying to improve the circulation.

Lucas made no such indication. His eyes remained closed. His breathing remained gaspy and shallow.

His body had just given out after too much abuse and now that he was asleep it seemed that he may not

wake up to their pleas at all.

"Lucas" Bridger said as he too tried to get the boy to stir from his deep sleep. "Lucas we need to you

wake up."

The boy still remained unresponsive. They didn't know if he was actually deeply asleep or indeed unconscious.

The result was the same. Nothing.

HOPE YOU ARE ALL ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS – YOU THOUGHT IT WAS ALL OVER –

TSK TSK – SHOULD KNOW ME BETTER BY NOW – REVENGE IS SUCH A ENTICING WORD

TO PLAY WITH – HEHEH - LOTS MORE TO COME.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. LOOKING AFTER LUCAS

RESPONSIBILITY 

  
  
  
Ben had returned to the galley kitchen with a blanket but then asked Kristen if it was really necessary given

the fever that Lucas seemed to display at the moment.

"I just want to lay it over him while we carry him through the freezing corridors, Ben" Kristen explained. "Nathan

could we use your quarters for the time being? Normally I would use the infirmary at Med Bay but I think the

room might be too cold at the moment. We need to make him more comfortable and then start attempting to

bring his temperature down slowly. If we leave it any longer, it could get too high and cause more problems for

Lucas. If we bring it down too quick, his core body temperature could do an about face and that's not good for

him either."

"Lucas" Bridger said again gently as he persisted with the attempts to rouse the unconscious teenager. He knew

that the boy probably couldn't hear him, but he needed to do something, for his own peace of mine.

"Let's move him" Kristen said softly as she recognized Bridger's need to make sure that the boy was alright.

"Be careful now and lift him gently" she added as she watched Ben lift up Lucas's shoulders and Bridger his legs and feet.

Lucas made a small moan as he was lifted from the cold hard floor and Ben and the Captain stopped dead in their

tracks, hoping that the boy would open his eyes. To there disappointment, Lucas fell back into the dark void that

still enveloped him and he made no other sounds to suggest that he was aware of their administrations.

Kristen opened the door to Bridger's cabin and was thankful that the room felt warm as they walked into it from

the cold corridors of the ship. Kristen then went about removing the old bedding from the bunk and replacing

it with fresh linen and a new woollen blanket. She too needed to feel that she was at least making an effort to

make the boy more comfortable.

After only a few minutes, Kristen announced to Ben and Nathan that the bed was ready. The two men carried

the still slumbering teenager over to the bed and laid him on his side on the fresh blanket. Bridger to fuss over

Lucas and made sure that the pillow was snugly underneath Lucas's head. Ben went about removing his friend's

sneakers and laying them under the bed.

While Bridger and Ben settled Lucas on the bed, Kristen quickly went back to the Med Bay and grabbed her

bag and everything she thought they would need. She grabbed a few pieces of cloth and a large basin as well.

By the time Kristen re-entered the Captain's quarters, Ben and Bridger had removed Lucas's jeans and left

him in his shirt and boxer shorts. They had turned Lucas onto his back. This seemed to make the raspy sound

of his breathing even more noticeable. His breathing was shallow and very wheezy. His forehead was covered

in droplets of sweat that had started to run down the side of his face and drip off onto the pillow already.

Kristen instructed Ben to fill the basin with cold water and bring it back to her. She hated the very idea of using

freezing cold water at these cold temperatures, but it was the only sure way of bringing Lucas temperature down

slowly. If the temperature didn't abate after time it may be that they would have to resort to harsher methods

such as submersion in a bath tub of tepid water, but for now they would try and use cold compresses made up

of the cloths and the water to bring down his fever.

"Isn't there any drugs that you can use Doc" Ben asked as he thought the methods being used by Kristen were

a little primitive to say the least. He expected that Kristen would use any of the modern remedies to her advantage

and they would see their young friend cured within a few hours and him up and walking around again good as new.

"No Ben, like I said before, we need to take this nice and slow. I think that Lucas might be on the verge of getting

something as severe as Pneumonia. If we try too many drugs or wonder medicines, they could interfere even more

with his breathing. I don't like the sound of his breathing as it is and I don't want to constrict his chest anymore with

the effect of artificial substances. I know this is hard to see. It is going to be a long haul for us all. Especially for

Lucas. Somehow he single-handedly took care of us all. Don't ask me how but he did. Now we need to stick by

him and help him get back on his feet again." Kristen said as she continued her doctoring to Lucas.

Kristen did all the normal medical checks to start of with. She ran her hands down Lucas's limp arms and legs, checking

for any other external signs of injury that they might have missed and may be the cause of his temperature. She found

nothing. She cracked open each of his eyelids in turn only to see the pupils dull and unresponsive to the small pencil

like torch light that she exposed them to. There was a little dilation when the light was used but that was probably only

a reflex she told the other two as they watched on in silence.

Kristen put a thermometer in Lucas's mouth under his tongue and left it there while she finished the rest of her routine

examination. She noted that the glands under the teenager's chin were a little enlarged, probably due to whatever

infection was causing these symptoms she assumed. When she placed her stethoscope onto Lucas's chest she was

very concerned about the rattles and noises that she heard coming from the lungs. Whilst they didn't have the 

signature wet sounds of Pneumonia right away, they sounded very restricted and somewhat laboured. She imagined

that Lucas would be complaining about his chest being incredibly sore if he were awake to answer her query.

She pulled the stethoscope away from her ears and only frowned more when he removed the thermometer from

Lucas's mouth and saw the reading that was present. 102% Very warm indeed.

"We need to make up a roster" Kristen said as she tried to work out in her head the best way to tackle Lucas illness. 

Although Lucas had been a one man band whilst the rest of them were sick, at the moment with Commander Ford

leading Ortiz and O'Neill in leading the rogue submarine back with them, they didn't have the man power that would

normally be a luxury on a vessel this big. 

Bridger did some thinking of his own on this point and finally informed all the crew that Ben, himself and Kristen

would take care of Lucas while the other three remained in charge of making sure that the boat made it's way

back steadily towards the mainland and medical help for Lucas. It would take approximately 27 hours to return

along the same route they had come when they first started this mission. That 27 hours would mostly be spent

awake tending to their respective chores.

Ben didn't even hesitate when he was told that he would be needed to help look after Lucas. He was almost

insistent that he do it all himself until he was subtly reminded about what happened to a certain crew member

who tried that already. Bridger and Kristen still had pale faces themselves and reluctantly admitted to needing

a few extra hours of sleep themselves. Ben sprung into action and demanded that if the roster was going to

work then both of them had to go and get some rest themselves. 

Kristen showed Ben how to make up the cold compresses and apply them to the pressure points on Lucas.

Then he made sure that Bridger was laying down on the couch in his own quarters ready to go to sleep himself

before she too headed back to her bed for a couple of hours. Both of them made Ben promise to get them

if anything in Lucas's condition should change. He promised them verbally that he would, but secretly he knew

that he wouldn't be waking them anytime soon.

The crew on the Bridge felt very guilty that they weren't more of a positive force in helping Lucas getting better,

but Ben assured them that they would be kept up to date with Lucas's progress. 

For the next two hours, Ben Krieg sat on a chair beside the Captain's bed, lovingly and gently sponging Lucas

down with the cold compresses. On one occasion it looked as though Lucas might be actually waking up,

but to Ben's dismay the teenager only mumbled a few incoherent words and then tumbled back into the darkness

he had fallen into. Ben didn't know if his administrations were helping very much. On a number of occasions he

had felt the boy's forehead after applying the cold compresses, but no sooner had the area been cooled by the

cool, damp cloth, the heat would slowly creep back through the skin and burn again almost immediately. He

didn't stop however and hoped that there would be some improvement in his friend soon.

Four hours after Kristen had been sent to bed, she woke again and now too did her bit to try and bring down

Lucas's persistent temperature. After a while she was happy enough that the temperature didn't seem to be

increasing at all, but by the same token, it didn't seem to be decreasing any either despite all of their efforts.

Into the last hour of her roster, Kristen had been tending to Lucas the same as before when the teenager appeared

to be showing some signs of waking up. Lucas moved his head around on the pillowed and began mumbling

in his sleep again. The mumbling got louder and the movements became more determined. 

Finally after what seemed an eternity, with Kristen holding her breath the whole time. She was secretly willing

Lucas to wake up and talk to them and tell her that he felt better, but on hind sight it was probably better if the

boy woke slowly and naturally and was able to gain stock of what still ached and what didn't.

She was rewarded with her patience and efforts when a pair of bright sky blue eyes slowly opened and stared

back at her. Lucas stared at her for quite a few minutes until his brain told him exactly what had been going on.

He tried to smile at her but it quickly turned into a grimace as his muscles protested about the amount of effort it

took just to do that.

"Hi there" Kristen said in a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

Lucas wanted to answer her, but found that his mouth was incredibly dry and raw. He motioned to Kristen for

a drink of water and then felt a small cup held to his lips so that he could drink the cool refreshing liquid and quench

his thirst and the fire that burned in his throat. When he was finished he pushed the cup away and gave Kristen

a look of gratitude and thanks.

"My chest hurts really bad" he admitted as he put a hand to his chest as a coughing fit began to burn his chest.

Kristen rubbed his bad gently, trying to ease the boy's pain but she felt a little helpless as she watched him 

cough and cough until he was out of breath and exhausted again.

"Lucas Wolenczak, if you weren't feeling so poorly, I would take you and put you over my knee, young man and 

give you a much needed spanking." Kristen said with mock sternness. "Do you know what you have done to yourself?"

Lucas only smirked back at her "Sorry, but there wasn't any other option. You were all sick. You all needed

someone to care for you. I guess that somebody had to be me. I am always being told that I don't take on

enough responsibility. I saw this as my opportunity to show you all that I could handle a difficult situation."

he continued but then broke off suddenly into another coughing fit again.

Kristen put her hand to his forehead again and noted that the temperature was still there. It didn't feel quite

as warm but maybe that just what she wanted to believe. She could see the dark rings of fatigue and the

paleness of his face and gestured for him to lay back down and get some more rest. "I'll still be here when

you wake up" she reassured him as she caressed his hair and gently massaged his temples as he fell back to

sleep.

Bridger woke after another two hours and demanded to know why he hadn't been woken at the scheduled 

time. Kristen assured him that she intended to wake him but then proceeded to tell him about Lucas waking

up for a short period of time and needing to assess his condition while he was awake. Bridger wasn't totally

convinced by her explanation but he believed it enough for the time being.

Bridger was a relieved to hear that Lucas had been awake and able to talk to Kristen. The doctor reminded

him that it didn't mean the teenager was healed by any stretch of the imagination. The temperature in Lucas

was still present and the cough was growing steadily worse, but she was confident now that they would be

able to get the teenager back to mainland safely and to medical attention. She told Bridger that she thought

it would be a good idea if Nathan took a couple of weeks vacation with Lucas and took the boy back to

his remote island for recuperation.

Bridger convinced Kristen that he would behave himself and continue looking after Lucas while she got some

rest herself. Kristen reminded him of the remedies they had been employing and what to look for if he thought

the symptoms in Lucas were getting any worse. Like Ben he promised her to call if needed but had no intentions

of doing so.

Bridger sat on the chair beside Lucas and began thinking over the last couple of days. He looked down at the

slumbering teenager and wondered how the kid had been able to do what he did. The kid had virtually taken care

of the entire crew while they were all sick. Some how he had also managed to thwart an attempt to take over the

SeaQuest. Sometimes this kid was just simply amazing. 

Gazing down at the innocence in Lucas's sleeping face he was reminded as well about how much he truly loved

the kid. There wasn't a moment that went by these days when Bridger wasn't wondering where the kid was

or what he was doing. It had been different with his own son Robert. Regretfully different. There had been times

when Robert felt so distant to him that he sometimes thought he barely knew his son anymore. It had been his

fault as well. It had been him to drive up the walls that barricaded him off from the rest of his family. When he

finally made the decisions to tear down the walls in frustration of losing the only family he had ever had, it was

too late and Robert was gone. He never had the chance to say how sorry he was for being so evasive and

uncaring. He had lost the precious years that had been spent feeling bitter or angry and being too involved

at his job to even see what was going on.

After Robert died and then Carol, Bridger found himself putting up the same walls around himself once more.

He had built them higher and stronger than ever before this time and assured himself that nobody would ever

break through them again. He had imprisoned himself to his loneliness and solitude. His punishment for all

the years he wasted he told himself. 

Then, only about three years ago, a blond-haired, blue eyed kid turned up out of nowhere and changed all of

that in a second. He had felt drawn to Lucas the first time he met him. Even if the first conversation he had

with the teenager was one full of mirth and attitude. He wouldn't give the last three years of love and caring

for anything else in the world. He thought he had found another reason to go on with life. He thought he had

been given a second chance and he wasn't about to screw that opportunity up this time.

While Bridger reminisced about his relationship with Lucas, he sponged the boy's chest and forehead in an

attempt to chase away the sickness that currently plagued him. No matter how tough things got in this world

for Lucas, the kid always bounced back. He rarely thought of himself first and was always there to lend a

hand when needed. These were traits that must have been born with Lucas because God knew that he didn't

get any such teachings from his unworthy parents Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak. It was ridiculous to think

that the two most undeserving people in the world had produced one of the kindest and loving people Bridger

had ever come across. They really were opposites.

Somewhere during his shift, Bridger must have dozed off in his chair. He had failed to see that Lucas was waking

up again.

Lucas woke slowly again and smiled when he saw his Dad asleep in the chair beside him. He then began to worry

about his Dad and wonder how long Bridger had been sitting there in the chair watching over him. The last time

he had awoken he remembered talking to Kristen. He could see that the two of them still had pale faces. He had

a need to go to the bathroom but didn't want to wake his Dad up to ask him for assistance.

He sat on the bed in silence for a few minutes, trying to judge whether or not he was capable of making the

short trip on his own. He moved his muscles about slowly and noted the aching in them and the stiffness. It was

bearable he told himself and wouldn't possibly stop him from walking across the room to the small en-suite that

was on the other side of the room.

Very slowly and carefully, Lucas sat himself up on the bed and swung his legs over the side. He waited temporarily

until the slight giddiness that resulted eased. He looked back over at Bridger and was thankful that his movements

on the bed hadn't woken his Dad. He would be back on the bed before anybody even knew he was gone.

Lucas now attempted to put both bare feet firmly on the floor and stand up erect. He did this without realising that

the sudden change in position would send the blood rushing to his head again and renew the dizziness. He was 

worried that he would make some sort of noise to wake Bridger and so clamped his teeth shut and closed his eyes

while he waited for the dizziness to disappear. After only a few second, he was satisfied that the giddiness wasn't

going to go away for good, but he felt confident enough to make it across the other side of the room.

Lucas took the first shaky step and then added another. His body was sore and aching but gave him a false sense

of being on the way to okay. He didn't feel as hot as the first time he had woken up with Kristen and assumed

that his illness was going to be short lived. He couldn't have been more wrong. As he took the next few steps,

he made the fatal mistake of putting three or four quick steps together in quick succession. The result was a huge

wave of dizziness engulfing him suddenly half-way across the room and making him fall to the floor on his knees.

He groaned a little to loudly as he tried to stop the whirly-gig his mind was on and put his hands to the sides of his

head to stop the spinning sensation. 

Bridger had unfortunately heard the groans and gasped out loud as he glanced quickly firstly at the bed an then

turning around after finding Lucas missing and seeing the teenager halfway across the room on his knees.

Bridger cursed himself severely for having fallen asleep and not being there for the kid when he woke up.

He walked over to the teenager and knelt down in front of him and gently grabbed a hold of the hands at the

side of his head. 

"Are you okay?" he asked trying not to berate the teenager for his little unaided trip while still sick.

"Not really" Lucas admitted. "Feel a little giddy. But need to go to the bathroom" he said and gave his

worst grin in return.

"Why didn't you wake me and ask for help?" Bridger asked him genuinely.

"Me?, asked for help" Lucas said in mock reply "Now that's unheard of in Lucas Wolenczak's dictionary"

he said. Bridger could only nod in agreement as he knew only to well the boy's stubbornness about

independence. It had been instilled in him to be independent from an early age and he supposed that old

habits were hard to break sometimes.

Bridger helped Lucas to his feet and helped him to the bathroom. He allowed the teenager his privacy and

waited outside until the boy was ready to head back to bed.

They had no sooner gotten Lucas settled back in the bed when Ben and Kristen made a reappearance to

see how the teenager was doing. They were both unsurprised and alarmed at Bridger's explanation of

Lucas's little expedition on his own. Kristen had a few choice words on her lips about obeying doctor's

orders, but she held them back as she looked back and saw the sheepish look on Lucas's face.

"How are you feeling now?" Kristen asked as she sat down on the side of the bed and recommenced some

of her routine checks. 

"My chest still feels really sore and my throat feels raw, but I don't feel so hot anymore" Lucas replied as

Kristen put her hand to his forehead to check out his theory. She was pleased to note that there was

a drop in temperature. There was still a little warmth there, but the diagnosis was suddenly looking much

better.

"I just don't understand why I feel so tired all the time though" Lucas complained as he yawned widely

and felt the stinging in his eyes that signalled he was ready to go back to sleep. He couldn't believe that

his body was ready to give out again after such a short span of time awake. He had only just woken up

hadn't he?

"Lucas, you put your body through a lot over the last few days. It got to the point where you collapsed

from physical exhaustion. You need to rest to rejuvenate your system. It is going to take quite a few days

rest to get over this. When we get back to the mainland I want to put you on a heavy course of antibiotics

to get rid of that nasty chest infection you have. Until then, I suggest you take another nice long nap and

I will bring you something to eat later on." Kristen said. "If you don't stay put this time, I will get Ben

here to sit on you." she said with a laugh. Everybody else laughed as well but Ben was serious about keeping

his friend in bed just like the doctor ordered.

Everybody was happy to see Lucas give in a little and lay himself back down on the soft mattress and turn on

his side in an attempt to go back to sleep. He was trying to think of a clever line to say back to them but

halfway through that thought, sleep overtook him once more.

"Is he going to be alright?" Bridger asked with still that inch of concern in his voice. 

"He still needs some medical attention for that chest of his. I don't want him going out into the cold without

being rugged up first. He isn't out of the woods just yet and these cold temperatures could trigger off his fever

again. Let's just take it slow and make sure that he does the right things, shall we." Kristen said as she watched

Lucas sleep. Even now the boy coughed involuntarily while in his sleep. The cough sounded harsh on his lungs.

Bridger had excused himself to go and check on the rest of the crew. He was happy to hear that the rogue

submarine seemed to be behaving itself for the most since surrendering. He told the crew to keep a close eye

on it and note any changes to him. He proceeded to fill the others in on Lucas waking up and feeling slightly

better but still needing to take care of his chest.

On the rogue submarine, William Murphy was trying to figure out where he went wrong with his plan. No matter

how he went back and forth over the careful planning he had done in the months leading up to this campaign, there

was one fly in the ointment that kept coming up in his mind that he hadn't accounted for – Lucas Wolenczak.

Everything would have worked out just like he wanted it to if that kid hadn't interfered. He wanted to get back

at them all somehow, but he knew making his move now would be a fatal mistake. He would need to wait until

they made it back to the mainland. 

He looked down at the table in front of him and picked up a small black dot. It was a tracker. It was small in

size but would be powerful enough to track any movements of the target within a given radius. It would be

useful enough for his purpose. He just had to think of an idea of how to plant it on the kid without him or anybody

else knowing about it. 

ENJOYING SO FAR ???????????

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. THE DIVERSION

RESPONSIBILITY 

  
  
  
Over the next five hours, Lucas's body tried to sleep away the aches and pains that persisted. With his fever 

decreased somewhat, even in the Captain's relatively warmer room, he began to shiver again as the cold

crept into the room from the outside corridors. It would be another six or seven hours before they would

be any closer to docking at U.E.O. Headquarters.

Lucas had asked for another warm blanket and gratefully huddled within its warm folds as it was draped

over him on the bed. Sometime later, his body did an about face again and he was suddenly very hot

again. His forehead was sweating again and he kicked the blankets off in a vain attempt to cool down.

He managed to fall back in a restless sleep again for about an hour, but then found himself awake again

and shivering. He didn't know why his body was hot one minute and cold the next. Kristen had told him

that she thought he was getting better, but it didn't feel like it. His legs actually mercilessly and his chest

was hurting so bad that he had to swallow back the tears of pain to avoid directing attention to himself

again.

One the second occasion of waking up, his mouth was very dry. He needed a drink of water and maybe

he could persuade Kristen to give him an aspirin as well for the pounding headache he had. He opened

his eyes slowly, but was surprised to see the chair beside him empty. He wondered where everybody

was and suddenly remembered about everybody being sick before. His heart began to race as he considered

the possibility that some of them had become sick again. He told himself that he had to put his own body

aside again for the time being and see where everybody was. Maybe while he was up he could get that drink

of water.

He shook his head and tried to force the fog of sleep from his brain. He sat up and tried to stretch his sore

and stiff muscles enough to get them moving in the cold. With the blankets thrown off him, his skin quickly

took on a goose flesh appearance and he quickly wrapped his arms around his chest in an attempt to ward

off the cold air.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed for a second time, but was mindful of what had happened last time

he had gotten off the bed. He wanted to avoid an embarrassing situation like that again and waited an extra

few minutes before gingerly getting off the bed and standing on the floor. During that extra time, all sorts of 

bad ideas plagued his mind about what may have happened to the others. This only seemed to spur him on

even more to find everybody and check that they were okay. When he had been sick in the past, Kristen

or Bridger or Ben had always been there in his time of need, sometimes they did it in teams. The fact that

he had woken up whilst sick without somebody watching over him only heightened his concern.

He had taken about five small steps towards the door when he stopped briefly to gauge his body's efforts.

So far he hadn't tumbled to the floor in an untidy heap. His chest burned quite a lot but that was almost a 

given at the moment. His chest felt so tight and congested that it wasn't funny. He took the additional

five steps that were needed to get to the door to the Captain's quarters and opened the metal door.

He yelped a little as the cold air from the corridor rushed into the room and lapped at his unclad ankles and

feet. In his haste he had forgotten all about putting on any footwear but he didn't think he had the extra strength

to go back and get them. His body was already protesting about being out in the cold again. He told himself

he just had to make sure that the crew were okay and then he could get his drink of water and get back to bed.

No problem.

He had to force his foggy brain to remember which way to turn to head to the Bridge. He thanked the Gods 

when he looked up and saw one of those numerous and stupid signs giving him an arrow in either direction and

a choice of the Science Labs or the Bridge. He didn't want to use the internal rail for fear that the cold might

have affected the small narrow tracks. 

For the first ten metres or so the corridor was deserted. Lucas walked along the left hand side of the corridor,

almost touching the wall. His steps were slow and deliberate. He had felt pretty much okay coming out of the

Captain's quarters. But now with the motion and the coldness sinking into his bones, his conserved energy level

was quickly waning again and he had paused once already before continuing on his way to the Bridge.

Captain Bridger and the others were in fact on the Bridge Lucas made his way along the corridor. Commander

Ford had informed the Captain that he was having trouble interrogating the people from the rogue sub and the

men inside were very un-cooperative. Bridger was reluctant to leave the sick teenager alone but agreed to help

out briefly enough and then return to his bedside vigil. Kristen was still walking around each of the crew members

on the Bridger making sure that all of their food poisoning symptoms were disappearing quickly enough. Bridger

was only supposed to be gone a few minutes. Neither he or anybody else would have thought that the slumbering

teenager would have awoken again before his return. Bridger finally gave up the interrogation of the submarine

and told Ford that the proper people would be waiting at the docks at Pearl Harbour when they arrived to take

them away and have them formally interviewed and charged with various criminal acts. He told Commander Ford

that he had the Bridge again and then he began to walk off towards his own quarters.

He had only made a few steps himself when he was shocked to see Lucas stumbling along the corridor just a few

yards in front of him. He gasped out loud and shouted back to Lucas and called for Kristen to come. Kristen

immediately came up behind him and could scarcely believe it either when she saw the obviously than well teenager

in the cold corridor. 

By this time, Lucas's progress had come to a complete standstill. Not from lack of determination and grit. But more

from the dizziness that had started to turn his legs to jelly. He could barely hold himself up right and his head was

pounding dreadfully from the headache he had. He could hear Bridger's voice calling out his name but it seemed to

be coming from too far away for him to tell where the Captain was.

Bridger was immediately by his side trying to say something to him. Lucas couldn't seem to put the words in the

correct order. Kristen was also there, berating him and asking him what did he think he was doing out of bed.

Her harsh words were soon forgotten though as Lucas could no longer feel his legs beneath him and he sunk to

his knees on the mesh floor. Bridger had a hold of his right arm and Kristen was attempting to look into his

face and ask his questions. He looked up at her. He could see her lips working but he couldn't work out what

she was saying. There was a strange sound in his ears. Probably from his headache but it made it impossible to

hear anything they were saying to him and it was getting steadily louder.

Lucas put his hands to the sides of his head and groaned out loud while trying to massage the pain away to a tolerable

level. It was now that Kristen and Bridger lifted him into a standing position and half-walked, half-carried him back

to the Captain's quarters.

When they arrived back there, they laid him back on the bed and recovered him with the warm blankets in an attempt

to stem the uncontrollable shivering in his body. He opened his eyes and started to use his voice. He couldn't hear

it himself but hoped they worked out what he wanted. _Water he whispered in a barely audible voice. He then felt_

a cup against his lips and gratefully drank the contents to try and sooth his raw throat. When his throat felt better

he tried to tell them why he was in the corridor. _Nobody here when woke up. Though something had happened_

_to__ you all he said in a sleep heavy voice. He was lying on his side with the blankets tightened around him. The_

warmth they offered was too much to resist and he sank into them even more and his heavy eyelids began closing

again. 

**"You darling fool boy" Kristen said as she gently kissed his forehead and watched him fall back asleep. She**

could feel the heat from his temperature again and caringly bathed his forehead in the cool water. Although the

temperature had reignited, it didn't feel as hot as it had done earlier. It was just his body's way of coping with

the illness. The coughing fits were leaving him breathless and the temperature was leaving him drained of all

excess energy. He would probably need a great deal of healing sleep over the next week or so before he could

be completely deemed fit enough.

"Is he going to be alright?" Bridger asked as he watched Kristen's administrations. 

"Yes, but with only a few hours until we dock, hopefully he will sleep through most of it and we won't have to

wake him until we are ready to walk off. I think you and I can attend to packing what few possessions he will

need during shore leave. When he dock, we will hail the nearest transport and take him straight to see my 

Chest Specialist friend. We can book into a hotel once we are finished at the hospital and let him recuperate

some more before we take him back to the island for his break." Kristen said. "My friend is the best in his

field. He will check Lucas over very carefully and prescribe the right medication for him."

Bridger nodded his approval of Kristen's ability to think way ahead of anybody else. She obviously had everything

about Lucas's care worked out in her head and by the sound of things, he didn't need to do anything except be

there for Lucas.

For the next six hours, sleep is just what Lucas did. Bridger made sure that the boy wasn't left along again to

go wandering around the ship again. If he left the room briefly, even for a cup of coffee to stop nodding off, he

made sure that one of the other crew members was watching over Lucas while he was gone. 

As Commander Ford relayed to Bridger and Kristen that they were nearing the docks, Bridger never thought

that he'd be so happy to say they were leaving the SeaQuest. All he wanted to do was get Lucas checked over

by the doctor and then get settled in a hotel. Kristen had already made the necessary calls before they reached

the harbour. She had booked them a suite just a short distance from the hospital and then arranged for her

specialist friend to be ready and waiting when they brought Lucas in. 

Thankfully the corridors were now somewhat warmer. The life support system had come back to life again about

40 nautical miles out of the harbour and the corridors had slowly and gently been returned to a more acceptable

temperature. The crew would be thankful to get out of their bulky and cumbersome winter layers and into some

more comfortable attire.

Bridger had reluctantly gone about waking Lucas as they docked and helped a very groggy and sleepy teenager

get into some comfortable jeans and a normal t-shirt. The kid had tried to be as helpful as possible, but his eyelids

kept drifting closed. After about ten minutes, the kid was a little more awake and was capable of putting his 

sneakers on before standing up. He immediately swayed as a result of getting up too quick, but Bridger made sure

that he had a hold on him. They waited until Lucas felt a little better and started walking out towards the launch

bay. By the time they got to the exit, Lucas was feeling pretty more alert and he told Bridger that he could manage

to walk on his own without any assistance. Bridger wanted to believe the kid and not crowd him like a invalid, but

he made sure that he and Kristen were only a few steps in front of him should he falter.

Lucas paused a little and was greeted by bright afternoon sunshine as he stepped on the boat. He had lost track

of time a little and had to get his bearings before he started off down the jetty. He looked over to his left and

could see that Commander Ford and a number of U.E.O. Security Police were busy taking the three submarine

crew members into custody. 

William Murphy made sure that he had stalled enough with the police to get a good look at where the teenager

was standing. He saw the teenager start to walk down the jetty towards a transport. The end of the jetty

was about 30 metres away. Murphy could see that Bridger and the woman were a little bit ahead of the kid.

The kid was walking all on his own. He had to grab the opportunity while it existed. 

The police started to walk along side the crew members, caging them in together from both sides and from

behind. There was nobody in front of them however and Murphy had a clear unobstructed view of the

less than well teenager as he walked along. Murphy could see that the kid was a little unsteady on his feet

and he had noted the pale pallor as the kid exited the boat. Murphy's hands were handcuffed in front of

him. But he had enough manoeuvrability to hide the small black dot between the fingers of his left hand.

Murphy quickly glanced at the guard either side of him just to check on where they were. He had already

relayed his plan to the two men and they were to remain silent for the time being. Murphy decided it was

time to put his plan into action. 

Everybody was stunned with Murphy suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and started shouting at Lucas

in front of him. Lucas heard the man yelling and now stopped his progress and turned around to see what

all of the racket was. He really didn't care anyway, his head was still aching. All he wanted was an aspirin

and a nice soft pillow to lie on.

"YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, YOU LITTLE BASTARD" Murphy yelled as he shook his 

handcuffed fists at the teenager. Lucas just continued to stare back at him in confusion as the man went on 

with his tirade of words.

"I"LL GET YOU FOR THIS" Murphy added and before anybody could react, he started to run at full

speed towards the teenager. Lucas's mind was too quick to act and recognize that the man was running

at him like a crazed lunatic. Suddenly Lucas felt himself propelled backwards onto the hardwood of

the jetty as Murphy barrelled into him. The scream of fright he gave soon alerted Bridger and Kristen

in front of him that something was wrong. Neither of them could prevent the large man knocking the

teenager to the ground apparently trying to assault Lucas even though he was handcuffed.

Almost immediately Murphy was being yanked back off the teenager. Bridger looked ready to punch the

guy out and was demanding to know why the guards weren't keeping a closer eyes on him.

The whole exercise was a ploy and had served it's purpose for the time being. While nobody else was

looking, he had been able to secretly slip the small tracker into the boy's pocket on the front of his jeans.

The boy himself didn't even notice the device being planted on him.

Murphy was being roughly hauled to the transport vehicles now by the guards as Bridger and Kristen knelt

beside Lucas. The kid was awake and seemed to be trying to get his breath back.

"Are you okay Lucas?" Bridger asked worriedly.

"Compared to what?" Lucas answered back in cheek "If your asking do a feel like a squished pizza then you'd

be about right" he added as he tried to take another breath and winced at the pain that resulted. Although he

had landed on his back, the guy had been rather large and his full weight on Lucas's already congested chest

hadn't done him any favours. 

"Try and take nice slowly deep breaths Lucas" Kristen instructed as she saw the pain on the boy's face. She

carefully felt around his chest, looking for any signs of injury but was satisfied that there would probably only be

a few minor bruises. Her diagnosis to Lucas only brought a scowl to the teenager's face who testified in vain

that he had been run over by a runaway herd of wild buffalo. 

Lucas was helped to his feet and Bridger and Kristen walked slowly beside him to their waiting car as Lucas

tried to breath normally again. Lucas climbed into the middle seat of the U.E.O. transport that awaited while

Kristen and Bridger said either side of him.

Ben drove the transport and told the Captain that he and Ortiz and O'Neill would complete the accommodation

arrangements and register at the hotel ready for them to return from the hospital. Lucas had sat in the seat and

leaned his head back against the seats for the journey to the hospital. After a short drive, Ben drove into a 

semi-circular driveway outside a large white building. 

Lucas got out with Kristen and his Dad but felt somewhat apprehensive about entering the place. The stark colour

white and the sheer size of the building made him nervous enough to have second thoughts about seeing any doctor.

Kristen wasn't having any of his qualms though and bid Ben and the other men goodbye and promised that they

would make it to the hotel as soon as possible. Ben and the others drove off whilst Kristen and Bridger started

to push a reluctant teenager through the automatic glass doors of the out patients clinic.

Bridger guided Lucas to a row of chairs along a wall while Kristen went up to the counter and enquired about 

her doctor friend. The place was very busy and very noisy. Lucas just wanted to get out of there. Bridger

put a comforting arm around his shoulder and told him that they could leave as soon as they checked out that

they were okay. After about a twenty minute wait, Kristen walked over to Lucas and told him that her friend

would be down to see him in a minute.

After another twenty minute wait, Lucas was introduced to a doctor that looked more like Tom Selleck than a

Chest Specialist. Lucas and his family were guided into a private examining room with various bits of electronic

equipment.

"I'm just going to check you over Lucas, and then we'll be able to tell you what wrong" the man said. Lucas

looked at the man's hospital identification which read "John Kavanagh" The doctor could see his patient's

nervousness and Kristen had filled him in a little on Lucas's medical background. He knew that the boy would

feel uncomfortable in the company of strangers, so he would try and make friends with the boy and make things

a whole lot easier. He could see that the presence of the grey-haired man known as Bridger also helped the

teenager to relax.

For the next half and hour, Lucas felt like he was given every medical test known to man kind. They took a sample

of his blood where he had almost thrown up all over the doctor. They had taken innumerable x-rays of his chest.

This left his chest feeling even worst due to the heavy lead-lined apron he had been forced to wear during the

procedure. The man had poked and prodded his ribs, his chest, his abdomen. Lucas had given the man a few

glares as his hands had started to drift a little too south for his liking. The doctor took the hint and started the rest

of his probing a little higher.

At the end of it all, Lucas was beginning to tire again. He had very sore bloodshot eyes and his head was still

hurting him terribly. The doctor had promised to give him some relief from the aches and pains before they

left.

Lucas sat on a long couch just inside the door while the Dr Kavanagh relayed his findings to Kristen and Bridger.

"His chest is very congested Kristen" Kavanagh explained. "I am going to put him on a heavy routine of antibiotics

as well as some pain killers for his aches and pains. You should try and keep him in bed at least for the next

week while his chest is still so tender. Hopefully within two days the medicine will start to loosen up some of that

phlegm on his lungs and allow him to breath a little easier. Try and keep the area around him quiet so that he can

sleep as much as possible. He has a mild temperature but I think that will fade when his chest begins to loosen

up. Try and get him to drink as much liquid as he can. He might not feel like eating very much due to the antibiotics

I'm afraid, they tend to have an appetite suppressing effect on most patients. But do try and get him to drink,

water at first and then some fruit juice as he starts to improve." Bridger and Kristen all took careful mental notes

of what was being said. 

"I'll make an appointment to see him in three or four days before you take him home just to see that he is genuinely

starting to improve" the doctor added. "Is there anything else you need Kristen?"

"No thanks John" Kristen said as she rose and shook the man's outstretched hand. "Thank you for seeing him

so quickly. I know you have a busy schedule of your own."

"Pleasure's all mine. He looks to be a nice young man. You just take care of him now until my next visit" Kavanagh

said.

"Ready to go Lucas" Bridger said gently as he said down beside a very tired and pale looking teenager. 

Lucas made his eyes open a crack and then concentrated on what was just said to him. "You bet" he said

and tried to stand up all at once with all the confidence he could muster. Luckily Bridger was there to grab

a strong hold on him before he fell on his face. They all chuckled slightly at the boy's antics and bid each

other goodbye.

Bridger and Kristen gathered Lucas and all the medication they needed and headed for the first cab available

outside to take them to the hotel. Lucas was almost asleep already as the car drove to their destination, but

he would need to take a dose of his new antibiotics before they could allow him to drift off permanently for the

night.

Back at U.E.O. headquarters, William Murphy and his crew had been hauled into the security wing, ready to

begin their stint in the lock up before being interrogated for their actions. With the guards relaxing slightly as

they arrived, the opportunity arose again to Murphy's advantage and he took it again.

The guards had been too busy saying hello to their respective buddies as they entered the building to notice

the crew members ready themselves for their little stunt. Without warning, Murphy's two sidekicks tackled

the two guards beside them, allowing Murphy to start running towards the front door without being hampered.

The guards had yelled out in surprise as they were tackled. They had seen the man tackle the boy out at the

jetty, but had little reason to think that they would too be on the receiving end of such a stunt this time.

Two of the security officers at the counter had tried to jump over the front counter and go after Murphy, but

they had been too slow and Murphy was no where to be seen by the time they reached the front of the

security wing.

The four guards got together and started to discuss what should be done about the escape attempt. The whole

four of them were more worried about their respective jobs rather than the escape of one lone prisoner.

"Let's just put the word out amongst ourselves to start out with and see if we can't pick him up again before

anybody finds out from up above" one of them suggested. They all agreed that it sounded a good idea at the time.

None of them wanted to own up to the mistake and see their ass wrung out because of a little slip up. They would

find him again before things got too much out of control.

Murphy had enough contacts in the city so that when he made his escape attempt he had somewhere to hold up

with until the heat cooled off. Once off U.E.O. property he had been able to remove the hand-cuffs with the

help of a spare set of illegal keys and now held up in a one room flat only a few miles away from the U.E.O.

base trying to figure out his next move.

He pulled out a little black box and lengthened the antenna on it. He then proceeded to press a small red

button at the top of the small device and was happy to see the red light flash on and off telling him that the

tracker was doing it's job. All he had to do now was work out the rest of his plan and follow the trail

left behind to find the kid. Once he had the kid, he would contact Bridger and the U.E.O. and make them

listen to his demands.

At the hotel Kristen had pre-booked about 10 miles from Murphy, Ben Krieg greeted the weary travellers

as they pulled up outside in the cab. Bridger helped a very sleepy Lucas out of the vehicle while Kristen

paid the driver and Ben grabbed the small amount of luggage from the boot of the car.

The suite they had paid for was about two levels off the ground. They entered the lift and guided Lucas to

Room 167. Tim O'Neill opened the door and let them enter. Bridger and Kristen didn't stop until

they reached one of the single rooms inside. 

Kristen had gently shaken Lucas a little more awake and told him to take a shower and she would leave

a dose of medicine and a glass of water on the bedside table. Once he was showered and changed he would

feel a lot better. Kristen told him she would organize a light meal for him from room service while he took his

shower. Lucas reluctantly agreed that a nice hot shower sounded good and might actually help some of his

sore and stiff muscles relax. Kristen and Bridger left him to go about his shower on his own while they

went into the main living area of the suite to check out their accommodations.

While Lucas was showering, Kristen told O'Neill, Krieg and Ortiz about what instructions the doctor had

given about Lucas's recovery. She told them about keeping the noise to a minimum and ensuring that Lucas

drank plenty of fluids. All of them agreed to do what they could for the sick teenager. They all wanted to

be there for him like he had been for them a few days ago.

The room service arrived and O'Neill and Krieg had already started eating their meals when Bridger started 

to worry about Lucas's time in the shower. Bridger got up from the table were they were all seated and knocked

gently on the bedroom door, asking Lucas if he was okay. He couldn't hear the shower running anymore and

the room appeared to be silent on the other side. He threw caution to the wind and gently pried the door open

just enough to look inside. 

His heart melted at the sight before him and he motioned for the others to see what the teenager was doing as he

chuckled to himself. The others were a little curious about the Captain's laughter and walked over to the room.

Bridger put his fingers to his lips in a shushing motion as they approached but then allowed them all to look inside

the room.

Laying sprawled on the bed, with his fresh clothes on and sound asleep on his back on the bed was Lucas. He

seemed to have been in the middle of putting shirt while sitting on the bed when he had just simply fallen backwards

and fallen asleep where he lay. Bridger assumed that the kid was probably asleep before he fell back on to the bed.

He had seen the tiredness and fatigue in the boy's features when they had left the hospital. 

Kristen walked over to the bedside table quietly and was happy to see that the kid had swallowed the two tablets

left for him and drained the cup of water with it. She gently brushed some of the hair out of his eyes and then

helped Bridger lift his legs all the way onto the bed and cover him up with a quilt from the cupboard.

He would probably sleep most of the night without being disturbed they assumed and gently reclosed the door 

and let the tired boy sleep.

Kristen and the others had an enjoyable meal but then all admitted to needing a good night's sleep. They all

were in bed and asleep before nine o'clock that night. Bridger had checked on Lucas twice before retiring, but

found him sleeping soundly enough on both occasions.

He and Kristen were sharing a double room. Ben had a room on his own with a single bed. Tim and Miguel were 

sharing a room with single beds as well.

Approximately 12 midnight that night, a shadowy figure emerged underneath the windows of the hotel where the

crew were staying. In his hand he held the small box for receiving the tracking signal. He was dressed in dark

clothes and for the most went about undetected by anybody. He used the hotel's rear fire escape to climb to

the second level and break a window into a room about three doors away from where Lucas was staying.

He turned on the light in the bathroom and started filling the small waste paper bin inside with papers and toilet

rolls. He spread the contents of the bin on the double bed in the room and then made sure the front door was

locked. Before exiting through the same window he put a lighter to the mound of paper on the bed and watched

it smoulder for a few minutes before bursting into flame and quickly engulf the bed and linen. It wouldn't be 

long before the smoke alarms in the building would be activated and people would notice the flames coming out 

from the door in the corridor. The whole thing was supposed to be a diversion. He crept up to one of the rear

windows where the signal was coming from and peered inside to see if there was any movement. There didn't

seem to be any at first. He would just bide his time and wait until they left to enter the suite.

Murphy didn't have to wait a terrible long time. Less than ten minutes later, someone was banging heavily on

the front door to the crew's suite screaming that there was a fire in the hotel. Bridger and the others, except

Lucas seemed to be awoken by the screaming and shouting. They all raced to the front door and then gazed

down the corridor to see smoke billowing out from underneath the door. Kristen raced back into the room

and started dialling for the fire brigade.

Bridger, Miguel, Ben and Kristen then ran down the corridor towards the burning room to try and get the hallway

fire extinguisher working. The fire hadn't spread too quickly yet and maybe they could douse the fire and prevent

it spreading any further in the building and contain the fire to one room only.

Tim O'Neill was left in charge of looking after Lucas in case he woke to the noise. Tim had checked on the 

teenager at first and found him undisturbed, but his curiosity got the better of him and he now stood at the doorway

to the suite watching the commotion down the corridor.

Murphy could see O'Neill standing in the doorway and noted his attention was currently distracted. There probably

wasn't going to be another opportunity to get to the kid with them all out of the room. He was hoping that they would

all just race out and leave the kid on his own. Slowly he cut a small hole beside the lock on the glass sliding door

and silently slid the door open. He left the door open as this would be his way of escape once he had his hostage.

From where he stood in the room, Murphy made sure that he kept in the shadows and the darkness of the room

and crept up to the already opened doorway to the kid's room. He quickly went inside and closed the door about

halfway, just enough to mask his actions should anyway glance back towards the room.

Upon entering the room he could see that the teenager seemed deeply asleep. He had even tapped the boy's

uncovered toe and only gotten a muffled response. It didn't look like the kid was going to wake up in a hurry,

but he wanted to make sure everything ran smoothly and according to plan. He had underestimated things with

this kid before and wasn't prepared to take that risk again.

The man pulled a small white cloth out of his pocket and now walked towards the head of the bed. He held the

cloth away from his own face but started to descend the drug soaked rag towards the boy's sleeping face. The

fumes must have been a little more pungent than he first expected. Just as he held the rag just above his face,

the boy's eyes opened to something that had disturbed him. His foggy brain told him that somebody was standing

over him. His vision was somewhat hazy but something told him that it wasn't Bridger or any of other others.

Murphy could see the boy was bout to let go a scream for help when he clamped the cloth hard over the boy's

mouth and nose. The boy's arms came up from the bed and were trying desperately to get the cloth away from

his face to yell for help. With his free hand, Murphy tried to restrain the kid as best he could whilst waiting for

the chloroform to do it's job. With his chest being so sore, Lucas was trying to draw in enough breath through 

his starved lungs. They only thing he could smell at the moment was the pungent odour of the fumes invading his

senses and beginning to made his mind swim in the fog that was descending upon him.

He tried desperately to get free but he didn't have the strength or the energy to put up much of a fight. Within a 

few more seconds, the boy's limp hands fell back onto the bed. Murphy kept the cloth in face for as long as

he dared just to make sure the kid was out. He lifted the cloth of the boy's face and the boy's head lolled

to one side, signalling that he was unconscious.

The only problem facing Murphy now was getting the kid out without being detected…………………………

ALMOST FINISHED - PROBABLY ONLY ONE MORE POST AND IT'S ALL OVER FOR THIS STORY.

ENJOY - 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. IT'S NOT OVER YET !!

RESPONSIBILITY 

  
  
  
While Murphy had been starting the fire just down the hall from Lucas, Commander Jonathan Ford had been

rushing to the hotel where the rest of the crew was staying, hoping that he was in time to prevent something 

nasty happening.

When they had docked at the jetty, Ford had chosen to refuse Bridger's invitation to stay with the rest of them

at the hotel and opted for staying at his own room on the U.E.O. base. It was only after having a meal back

at the mess and overhearing a few whispered conversations that he heard about Murphy's breakout. At first

he had been angry at the incompetence of the security staff on the base. Then the realisation of what the man's

real objective might be suddenly hit home and he knew that he had more important things to do for the time being

than initiate disciplinary action against the men involved in Murphy's escape.

Ford's car came to a screeching halt outside the hotel where Bridger and Lucas were staying. Ford jumped out

of his car and breathlessly ran into the lobby area and demanded to know the number to Bridger's room off the

frightened girl at the reception desk. Ford allowed himself to calm down long enough to introduce himself to the

girl and tell her that he was here on a very urgent basis. The girl seemed to get herself under control as well and

was able to provide the handsome dark-skinned Commander the information he sought. She told him that the

room number was 167 and that Captain Bridger and his party were still in their rooms as far as she knew.

By the time Ford had reached the stairs, he could hear yelling and screaming coming from the occupants of the

other hotel rooms about the fire that was in the other room. He quickly ran along the corridor and spotted the

room, not because of the number on the door, but because his friend and colleague Tim O'Neill was standing

in the doorway. 

"Captain Bridger" Ford yelled to the others trying to douse the flames down the other end of the hallway.

Something in Ford's voice made Bridger and the other's turn around. They were surprised to see him but his

voice had an urgency about it that made Bridger stop what he was doing and go back to his room. Something

in his gut told him that Ford was not here to say hello.

Murphy had by now grabbed the limp and unconscious teenager and lifted him from the bed and draped him over

one shoulder as he attempted to leave the hotel room the same way he had come in. He had only made it half

way across the living room floor with his intended hostage when he heard yelling from the doorway and knew that

his plans had been foiled again. He was determined though that if he was going to go down, then he would take

the boy with him and he would go down with a fight.

"MURPHY" Bridger bellowed from the doorway of the hotel room. Ford had muttered something as Bridger

reached the doorway about Murphy's escape from the security section of the base. He had heard the words but

didn't really put two and two together until he saw the man in front of him attempting to kidnap Lucas out from

the room.

It was now that they all realised that the fire in the other room had been a distraction. Just like on the jetty it was

all a ploy to divert their attention while Murphy silently entered the room and attempted to take the teenager from

them. It had almost worked to. O'Neill felt terrible because he was the one supposed to be watching the sleeping

boy. He hadn't even heard the man come into the room. If Commander Ford hadn't turned up when he did, Murphy

might have very well gotten away with his kidnap plot.

"LET HIM GO NOW" Bridger said with anger in his voice. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?" he then

demanded to know as he noted the lack of movement from Lucas. He knew that the kid had been sick and was

supposed to be sleeping, but Murphy must have assault him or something to subdue him this much. The boy's

eyes remained closed and he didn't move a muscle.

"I just made sure that he is going to sleep for a little while" Murphy said in response. His vision was darting around

the room looking for another escape route. At the moment the area directly behind him was still within his control.

Then another idea came to him. While he still had the kid all the odds were stacked in his favour. These people

wouldn't risk putting the boy's life in danger any further. 

Murphy could see Ford and Ben slowly taking small steps towards him as if to tackle Lucas away from him and

wrestle him to the ground. With a quick transfer of weight, Murphy now moved Lucas's unconscious body so

that the kid was in front of him. The SeaQuest crew wouldn't dare shoot at him or try and tackle him with the

boy acting as his shield and bodyguard. 

Kristen kept her eyes totally fixated on Lucas's condition. She could see as well as everybody else that the

boy was unconscious. She couldn't see any visible gashes or lumps to his head that would indicate Murphy

had slugged him. The boy's features were still pale and his forehead had a slight sheen of sweat over it that

glistened in the lights of the hotel room. 

Ben and Ford made another attempt to move towards Murphy and rescue Lucas. Murphy saw the steps and

decided to put a little more fear into them all. He bent down slightly and pulled something out of the side of his

boot. As he put his head towards Lucas's unprotected neck, the crew gasped a little in fright as they could

now see the man holding a very savage looking serrated knife at Lucas's throat.

"Take one more step gentlemen," Murphy threatened and then chose to prove that he wasn't joking by making

a small nick in Lucas exposed white skin on his neck. Everybody saw the red blood run down the boy's throat.

The cut had only stung slightly and barely received a grunt from Lucas as a result. Ford and Ben immediately

stopped in their tracks to avoid further injury to the already vulnerable teenager.

Bridger had been desperately trying to think of a way to get Lucas away from Murphy. If he could someone

distract Murphy's attention, they might be able to get Lucas away from him long enough for the others to subdue

Murphy. He started a conversation with the kidnapper that he hoped would let him spill his guts about his

true intentions for both the SeaQuest, U.E.O. and Lucas.

"Why are you taking him from us?" Bridger asked in a calm and inquisitive sounding voice. "What has he done

to make him your ultimate target in all of this?"

"He………. hasn't done very much at all Captain Bridger" Murphy answered cautiously whilst still remaining to

keep his wits about him and his hostage. "It's what he represents to you and the U.E.O. that interests me the most.

You see Captain, me ultimate goal on that submarine was to make the U.E.O. stand up and take notice of one

William Murphy. Once upon a time I worked for the U.E.O. just like you all do now. The exception is that I 

realised a long time ago that the longer I worked for them miserable son's of bitches, the more the real me was 

getting eaten up by the red tape. You see all my life I have worked for people that kicked you in the guts no

matter how hard you tried. I was always willing to do my share of the work. Sometimes I even got some ideas

of my own about how things could be improved. When I spoke up and tried to put my ideas across, I just got

kicked down more and told to just do my job. My job. A job that was nothing but a dead end. Then I got 

smart about things. I decided that if I really wanted to make a difference then I had to sidetrack the U.E.O.

brass and go straight to the top. Nobody took me seriously. They all thought I was some crazed lunatic.

After that I decided to make a stand and an impact that would get people's attention. I intended to prove

to the world and to the U.E.O. that William Murphy wasn't just a dead end bum with no where in life. I

wanted them to sit up and take notice of me for a change."

"Admittedly, the submarine idea was working great until your young friend here decided to foil my plans"

Murphy continued. "He's a bright one this one. And that's what got me to thinking to how to make

an even bigger statement to them U.E.O. brass. You see Captain Bridger, this kid represents everything

about the U.E.O. that I have come to hate so much. He's their product. He was made in their image.

And then there is you Captain Bridger. The U.E.O. brass listen to you. So I decided that if I really wanted

to get the U.E.O. brass's attention, then first I needed to get your attention and thus you would then get

their attention. I figured back on that submarine that the way to get to you was through this here lad. I

make him squeal a little and I make you do what I ask and then I get what I want from the U.E.O. I don't

get what I want then I just have to make this kid squeal a little louder. You understand?"

"Your philosophy I understand Murphy. But I have to say that if you think using Lucas is the way to achieve

things then you are very wrong indeed. You say that Lucas is a product from the U.E.O., you couldn't be

more wrong. Lucas hates just about everything military about the U.E.O. that you do. He hates the routine,

the rules and regulations and the red tape that often has bound him up tighter that he would have liked. No,

Murphy, a product of the U.E.O. he is not." Bridger said. While talking, Bridger was making small and

deliberate secret hand signals to the other crew members of what he wanted them to do. Apparently on his

signal, once Murphy's guard was down enough they would just rush at him and get Lucas away from him.

They couldn't let Murphy get any further out the door with his hostage or there was no telling what might happen.

Bridger's speech seemed to be working and at one point it looked as if Murphy's hand that held the knife to 

Lucas's throat was relaxing slightly. 

All at once though Murphy seemed to come to his senses and understand what was going on. His hand suddenly

gripped on the knife tighter and his face reddened as he realised that he was being had by Bridger. 

The next few minutes all seemed to happen in slow motion. Commander Ford and Ben made a dive for Lucas

and Murphy. Murphy was slightly quicker and looked like he was about to stab the unconscious teenager

before they got to him. Ben's outstretched hand seemed to aid some as he knocked the point of entry for the

knife away from Lucas's chest. The blade made a slashing sound and caused a large gash down one arm.

Blood began to ooze from the wound and small moans of pain escaped Lucas's lips as he was pulled back to

consciousness from the sudden pain and stinging sensation that he felt down his arm. 

Lucas briefly opened his eyes and tried to work out why he was being restrained. His vision fixated upon

his friend Ben who seemed to be coming at him at a fast speed. Lucas's brain was very foggy and he had

to fight with himself to get any sort of reasoning going. Before he could remember why he was standing

up and why he had pain in his arm and why he was being held from behind, again for the second time today

he felt himself being propelled backwards towards the floor. 

As Lucas tumbled onto the floor with his would-be kidnapper, his head banged on the hard floor. Because

of his already hazy consciousness, the blow was enough for the teenager to lose his senses once again and

remain where he fell on the floor. 

Murphy was quickly being hauled away from the teenager by three sets of hands and the knife in his hands was

being reefed out with force. Murphy suddenly found himself eating the floor on his stomach as his face was

pushed up against the hard wood floor and his hands were being restrained behind his back. The men who 

were restraining him made no attempt to be gentle in any way. Actually it felt like they were trying to extract

a little retribution of their own for his actions against Lucas.

Bridger was yelling orders to Commander Ford about hauling Murphy's miserable hide out of his sight and down

to the police station to face charges of attempted-murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and a whole

string of other charges he hadn't even began to think of yet to add to the list. 

Once Murphy was taken away, Bridger and Kristen went about checking Lucas over and tending to the fresh

wound on his arm. Miguel Ortiz had gone into the kid's room to make sure everything was okay when he

returned to the living room holding the drug soaked rag that Murphy had used. He had shown the white cloth

to Kristen and she noted that the drug was chloroform. At least now they had the reason why Lucas hadn't

been putting up any struggle against his attacker.

Kristen had applied some pressure to the bleeding would on Lucas's arm with towels from the bathroom.

The sight of the red stains on the bright yellow fabric made tears form in her eyes as she looked back down

at Lucas's prone and unconscious form. She instructed Bridger to hold the towel in place while she checked

the rest of him over. She noted there was a small but barely noticeable swelling on the back of his head from

the fall to the floor.

Once Kristen was satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, she removed the towel and started to rip away the

torn fabric of Lucas's shirt to see the wound itself. Upon looking at the cut, she surmised that although the wound

had bleed rather well, there probably would need to be any stitching of the skin. She pulled out her medical

bag and applied a small amount of antiseptic and then wrapped the area with a clean white bandaged. She lifted

his eyelids and noted his breathing. The teenager was still under the effects of the chloroform and judging from the

amount on the cloth Ortiz had found probably would be for some time.

Bridger and Ben Krieg lifted the unconscious teenager from the floor where he lay and carried him carefully to

back to the bed he had been taken from earlier. They laid him down and allowed Kristen to briefly check him

over again before covering him with the blankets.

"He'll probably sleep for quite a long time" Kristen said relating her diagnosis to the others. Bridger was just

plain scared. He had just come so close to having somebody take his son away to get back at him that he

couldn't bare to think what might have happened if Commander Ford hadn't come when he did. Bridger

sat on a chair beside the bed and told the others that he would stay with Lucas in his room tonight.

"Do you think he will remember much of what happened to him tonight Doc?" Ben asked in a whisper.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he remembers nothing at all Mr Krieg given his body's weakened condition 

before being drugged. The chloroform was strong and he wasn't even fully awake when Murphy stabbed

his arm. Then again, I also wouldn't be surprised if he has flash backs and bits and pieces of memory for

the next few days as his body and mind continue to heal. He might even start having a few nightmares

during his sleep. We just have to make sure that this attack doesn't prevent his physical recovery from the

illness he had. He still needs to get rid of the infection of his chest before he will be completely well again.

Let's just leave him for tonight with Nathan and see how he copes over the next few days." Kristen suggested.

"Nathan are you planning to take him back to the island tomorrow?" Kristen now asked.

"Yes, first thing if you think he can travel alright. I know he might be still asleep, but we can manage between

us to get him home okay. I think he will heal faster in a familiar environment." Bridger answered as he gently

caressed Lucas's limp arm and talk soothing words to him.

"I'll make all the arrangements Captain" Ben said as he gazed down at his friend on the bed. He was determined

to keep his friend safe and see him well again. 

Kristen ushered everybody but Bridger out of Lucas's room and then gave him strict instructions to seek her

if he or Lucas should need anything for the rest of the night. She told Bridger that Lucas might awaken with

some pain in his arm and she had some painkiller to give him if he did. She also had another dose of antibiotics

to give Lucas the next time he awoke.

Bridger agreed to get her if she was needed but then turned his attention solely back to Lucas. He promised he

would keep up his vigil all night if it was needed. 

At some point during the night Lucas seemed to be caught somewhere between reality and dreams in his sleeps

and he actually called out a couple of times in fright as his mind remembered some of the scenes from earlier.

At an instant Bridger was there beside him urging him to go back to sleep and telling him that everything was 

alright. He secretly cursed William Murphy for causing his son such pain and anguish.

Back in the security wing of the U.E.O. base, William Murphy was lying wide awake on his small bunk in his

cell. He had not yet been put on trial for any of the actions against Lucas Wolenczak. He had yet to see

a lawyer and hear the charges laid against him. None of this particularly worried him though. At the moment,

the man only had thoughts for one thing, Lucas Wolenczak. He somehow promised himself that he would

still get even with them all. He would seek his revenge against the U.E.O., Captain Bridger and Lucas 

Wolenczak. The next time though things would be his way and there would be no escape for young Mr

Wolenczak.

"THIS ISN"T OVER YET MY YOUNG FRIEND" Murphy said out loud to nobody

************************************************************************THE END.

THAT'S ALL FOR THIS TIME – YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL TO SEE WHAT'S

GOING TO HAPPEN – HAD A DIFFERENT IDEA OF ENDING THIS ONE BUT HAVE DECIDED

TO LEAVE THAT IDEA FOR ANOTHER DAY AND ANOTHER STORY IDEA. DON'T WORRY

YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF WILLIAM MURPHY………………. HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED

THIS STORY.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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